44 lives lost in 29 terror attacks in April

Monthly security report points to increased terror activity in Balochistan

As the temperatures rose, so did the number of terror attacks across the country with a slight uptick recorded in April over the attacks which took place in the preceding month.

This was revealed in a monthly security report prepared by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies’ (PIPS).

The report for April showed that as many as 29 terror attacks took place across the country — including three suicide blasts in Balochistan — which left 44 people dead. Another 98 were left injured in these attacks.



In March, there were 25 attacks which left 37 people dead.

Among those killed in terror attacks in April, there were 22 civilians, 16 security personnel, and six militants. Among those injured, there were 47 civilians and 51 security personnel.

Most of the casualties suffered by security and law enforcement personnel were caused by 18 terrorist attacks (62 percent of the total attacks). The report noted that these attacks exclusively targeted security personnel.



The report further said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), local Taliban groups, and other militant groups with similar objectives such as Da’esh (Islamic State) and Hizbul Ahrar allegedly carried out 19 attacks, which left 31 people dead and injured 92 others.

Baloch nationalist insurgents were allegedly involved in six attacks which claimed seven lives.

Four sectarian attacks left six people dead and 12 injured.

Geographically, Balochistan saw the most attacks with 15, up from the 13 it saw in March. These accounted for around half of all attacks taking place across the country. Three of these attacks were suicide bombings attacks, which claimed 34 lives and injured another 39. Chief among them was the attack on Balochistan Constabulary (BC) and Frontier Corps (FC) on April 24 that left seven BC men dead.

As many as eight terrorist attacks took place in two agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in April 2018, compared to seven in the previous month which had claimed nine lives and injured 46 others.



Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) saw six terror attacks in April, up from the three in March. Dera Ismail Khan was the most violent place in the province where five terror attacks took place in April. These attacks killed an army soldier and injured 13 others.

No terrorist attack was reported from Punjab, Sindh or any other region of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2018.