Terrorist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa increasing: says PIPS’ August security report

 – Tension rife along Line of Control

Islamabad (PR) – In August, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the most terrorism-affected region of Pakistan, compared to others, where 10 reported attacks killed 16 people and injured 37 others. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hizbul Ahrar, Lashkar-e-Islam, and local Taliban groups were involved in these terrorist attacks in KP. These statistics were revealed by Pak Institute for Peace Studies’ (PIPS) monthly security report for August 2019.

One the whole, the report said, 21 terrorist attacks were recorded in Pakistan during August 2019, which claimed 31 lives and injured 83 others.

Almost double from previous month, 9 terrorist attacks happened in Balochistan during the month under review. These attacks claimed 12 lives – including 11 civilians and one policeman – and injured 45 others. Out of these 9 attacks, 4 were perpetrated by Baloch insurgents, another 4 by religiously-inspired militant groups, while one attack was sectarian-related.

One terrorist took each took place in Islamabad and Karachi.

In August, India revoked Article 370 of the Constitution, thus abolishing the special status of the Jammu and Kashmir. The revocation will mean Indians from outside the Indian held Jammu and Kashmir (IHK) can now permanently settle, buy land, hold government jobs and secure education scholarships in IHK. While the verdict sowed the seeds of internal resistance inside IHK, it also increased tension at the LoC. On the whole, compared to 10 in previous month, 13 cross-border attacks from India were recorded in August 2019 that claimed the lives of 14 people – 5 Pakistani army soldiers and 9 civilians – and injured 10 others.