According to data compiled by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), in the 13 significant terror activities of 2016, a total of 338 persons lost their lives while 947 others suffered injuries.
In 2015, 334 persons were killed and 669 received injuries in the 25 major terrorist attacks while 372 people lost lives and 683 sustained wounds in the 19 major acts of terrorism during 2014.
The incident of Peshawar’s Army Public School (APS) on December 16, 2014 forced the authorities to fundamentally alter course and a 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) was made the national agenda to fight terrorism.
According to Nacta’s data, five major terror attacks were carried out in Balochistan and as many in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) witnessed two of these ‘significant’ attacks and one was carried out in Punjab.
The month of January proved more fatal as three major incidents occurred in this month – one each in Quetta, Khyber Agency (Fata) and Charsadda.
The first major terror incident took place on January 13 when bomber blew himself up near security officials accompanying anti-polio campaign workers in Balochistan’s capital, Quetta. Twelve police officials, one FC operative and two civilians were killed and 23 were injured in the attack.
On January 19, a terrorist in Khyber Agency detonated his suicide vest close to a local market, where personnel of Khyber Khasadar Force were present. Ten persons, including four personnel of Khasadar Force, were killed in the assault. Thirty-five people sustained injuries.
On January 20, four unidentified terrorists entered Charsadda’s Bacha Khan University and resorted to indiscriminate firing. The brazen attack left 20 persons – including a professor and students – dead. Nineteen people were injured in the daredevil atrocity.
On February 6, the terrorists once again targeted Quetta where a suicide bomber attacked an FC vehicle in front of the district court, killing eight civilians and two FC personnel and injuring 33 others.
Charsadda was once again targeted on March 7 when a suicide bomber killed 16 people including eight policemen on the premises of local courts at Shabqadar. Thirty-three people got injured in the attack.
On March 16, 16 people were killed and 65 sustained injuries when a bomb ripped through a local bus in the K-P capital, Peshawar. On March 27 a suicide attacker targeted common people in a park in Lahore, killing 70 persons and injuring 331 others.
A suicide bomber also blew himself up on April 19 in Excise and Taxation office in Mardan, causing death of one person and injuries to 16 others.
Three months – May, June and July – remained relatively peaceful, as per Nacta’s data. But this peace was shattered on August 8 with deadly blast on the premises of a Quetta hospital. In this grisly outrage, 72 persons, including 50 lawyers, were martyred and 164 others got injured.
On September 2, a suicide bomber attacked local courts in the K-P’s Mardan district and killed 13 people while injuring 51 others. In the same month, on September 16, a suicide attacker killed 28 persons and injured 31 others when he detonated his vest inside a mosque at Fata’s Amber tehsil.
Quetta became a victim of terror again on October 24 when armed militants mounted a brazen attack on a police training college and killed 60 cadets while injuring 126 others.
Attacks in the K-P
The K-P has been in the grip of terrorism for over a decade and 2016 was yet another bloody year for the general public and law enforcement agencies.
On average, one policeman was targeted on every second day across the province throughout the year. The civilian casualty rate more than doubled in 2016 as compared to 2015. Almost 1.05 civilians (on average) were killed or injured in the province every day.
In 2016, around 180 people lost their lives in 200 terrorist attacks which also left 404 people injured. A year earlier 130 people had been killed and 247 injured in total 211 terrorist incidents.
This indicates that although the number of terrorism incidents dropped to some degree, yet these attacks resulted in more casualties. Data shows that as of Dec 15, 60 policemen and 102 civilians were killed in 2016 against 52 policemen and 45 civilians killed in 2015.
Terrorists changed their modus operandi considerably as the number of IED attacks dropped to 60 against 83 of the previous year but the firing incidents increased to 115. Eight-four firing incidents were reported in 2015. The number of suicide attacks remained four. But there was no vehicle-borne suicide attack. Two such attacks were carried out in 2015.
Most of the policemen killed during the year died in incidents of targeted killings. Other government officials were also targeted in the province and terrorists attacked both employees of the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) as well as an inspector of Intelligence Bureau.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2017.
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