Pakistan witnessed 59 terrorist attacks in August, 84 people killed

In continued increase in terror attacks, a total of 59 terrorist attacks occurred across Pakistan in August 2024 killing 84 people compared to 38 such attacks in the previous month, a media report said on Tuesday.

The August attacks take the total number of attacks in 2024 to 325, according to the digital database of security incidents managed by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank.

These incidents include 29 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 28 in Balochistan and two in Punjab, the PIPS data said, adding, as many as 84 people were killed and 166 others were injured, newspaper The Dawn said.

Also, since 2006, there have been 17,846 terrorist incidents in which 24,373 people have been killed and 48,085 others injured, according to the PIPS database.

Balochistan experienced 28 terrorist incidents during August 2024, which resulted in 57 deaths and injuries to another 84 people. Most of these terrorism-related casualties resulted from the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) orchestrated simultaneous attacks on August 26 in over seven districts of the province targeting security forces, non-Baloch people, mainly Punjabis, and national infrastructure.

August 26 was the death anniversary of Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti when the group launched coordinated attacks across Balochistan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 29 terrorist attacks claimed 25 lives and wounded 80 others. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, Lashkar-e-Islam, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) and a few local Taliban groups reportedly carried out these attacks, the report said.

Two attacks from Punjab injured two civilians and killed two of the attackers.

Meanwhile, security forces and the counterterrorism departments (CTDs) of the police conducted 12 anti-militant operations in the country in August compared to 11 in the previous month.

In these operations, 88 militants were killed and 15 army soldiers and three policemen martyred. Eight out of the 12 reported operations took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while four others took place in Balochistan.

Drawing attention to how 26 out of the total 28 attacks recorded in Balochistan were carried out by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the PIPS said in its monthly security report that the armed group has escalated its destructive activities, executing high-impact attacks and using female suicide bombers.

The report underlines that the involvement of numerous militants and the use of sophisticated weaponry including vehicle-borne explosives, indicates BLA's growing capabilities.

The group has adopted new tactics, such as targeting Punjabis on highways by checking identity cards a development that may further strain relations between the province and the central government, which seems to be one of the banned entity's objectives.

The PIPS also said that positioning itself as a defender of Balochs' interests, the BLA exploits grievances like enforced disappearances and resource exploitation and as the Baloch people lose faith in the political process, the group may gain more support.

To counter this, the government must create political and social spaces for the Baloch people, the report recommended.

Additionally, there is an urgent need to investigate the BLA's sources of training, weapons and funding. Pakistan should engage constructively with Afghanistan and Iran to develop a joint counterterrorism and border security strategy, the report advised.