Scarred by explosives

The human toll of explosive weapons in Pakistan is a harrowing testament to the indiscriminate brutality of modern warfare. A new report by Action on Armed Violence, a British NGO, says Pakistan ranks among the countries worst affected by civilian casualties from explosive violence.

It is also worth noting that only six countries have been ranked higher than Pakistan in 2024 by the AOAV report. They include Lebanon, Sudan, Myanmar and Syria (who are/were in the middle of civil wars) as well as Ukraine and Gaza (who are under an invasion). Pakistan is just one among these seven worst affected countries where there is no war or civil war. Also, all the explosive incidents in Pakistan involved 'soft' targets, meaning those in predominantly civilian areas.

The high number of attacks also illustrates not only the impact of criminal violence in general but also how the government is trying to downplay the extent of the situation in Balochistan. Experts also believe that rising tensions with India will also lead to an increase in explosive violence as the military's focus shifts to securing the eastern border, allowing space to the Taliban, BLA and the likes to up the ante.

Another concerning finding is that the vast majority of violent attacks were actually credited to the TTP. And the BLA terror group only undertook a handful of attacks. However, this is less surprising when we consider that the government clearly took its eye off the ball and failed to stop the Afghan Taliban and India from supporting the TTP and other terrorist groups.

Pakistani civilians will suffer for decades the consequences of violent policies crafted in New Delhi and Kabul. About 88% the casualties in March were due to improvised explosive devices, such as roadside bombs, which can be long-lasting if they are not detected and safely disarmed. This means that, much like landmines, civilians may continue to suffer the consequences of unexploded ordnance, even several years after the elimination of the terror groups that placed the bombs or helped plan the attacks.