A very violent year

Upsurge in terrorist attacks has made this the deadliest year for security forces since Operation Zarb-e-Azb

The upsurge in terrorist attacks this year has made it the deadliest year for security forces since the peak days of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. “Violent incidents” — almost all of which are militant attacks — have also spiked in general, up 57% nationwide, according to a new study by the Center for Research and Security Studies. The casualty count is actually at the level that pushed the state to pursue the ambitious Zarb-e-Azb plan in the first place. Police officials and army personnel make up the majority of the 386 martyred security officials — 208 and 137, respectively. However, it is notable that civilians still made up the vast majority of overall victims — over 60% of the total 1,087 people killed, according to the study.

Unfortunately, people in some areas of the country may still not recognise the severity of the situation because the attacks have been heavily concentrated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Some 92% of all fatalities were in the two western provinces. Punjab, however, saw a significant fall in fatalities. Although the data may suggest that terrorists are finding it harder to attack significantly farther than regions bordering Afghanistan, the raw number of casualties voids any attempt to paint this as a success.

Despite the recent harsher stance Pakistan has adopted vis-a-vis the large Afghan refugee population, the regime in Kabul is still, at best, only half-hearted in its efforts to assist in the fight against the TTP. While the Afghan refugee problem needs resolution, it is not the refugees, but the Taliban leadership in Kabul and Kandahar that needs to feel Pakistan’s wrath. For a start, the government could punish them through their proxies — several top Afghan leaders have assets in Pakistan that could be frozen and relatives based here who could be removed from the country. But even that would only catch their attention. For concrete results, the Taliban need to be told, in no uncertain terms, that their complicity in violence in Pakistan is an act of war.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2023.

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