Executive Summary
As many as 223 terrorist and insurgent attacks killed 213 people and injured another 490 across Pakistan during February 2009. Five incidents of clashes between security forces and militants/insurgents (4 in NWFP and 1 in Balochistan) killed 33 people and injured 48 others. Security forces launched 32 operational attacks (15 in NWFP and mostly in Swat, and 17 in FATA’s Bajaur and Mohmand agencies) that killed 319 people and injured another 284. Meanwhile 4 cross-border attacks were reported inside Pakistani tribal areas and 1 border clash was reported from Pak-Afghan border in Balochistan.  Inter-tribal infightings in tribal and frontier areas, and incidents of ethno-political and criminal violence in Karachi were another addition to the security scenario of militancy and violence-hit Pakistan. In total 679 people were killed and 915 injured during February in these all kinds of attacks, operations, clashes and incidents of violence across Pakistan (see tables 1,2 and chart 3).

The Baloch nationalists and insurgents are still dismissing the government’s reconciliatory attempts saying it is just deception and continuity of the Musharraf regime. Two not well-known Baloch insurgent groups, Lashkar-e-Balochistan (LeB) and Baloch People’s Army (BPA) have become active on media as their spokesmen claimed responsibilities for some terrorist attacks during the reporting month. Another hitherto new group Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) has claimed responsibility for kidnapping John Solecki, provincial head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Attacks on sectarian rivals and non-locals were also rife in Balochistan.

The Taliban militants are keeping the ceasefire in Swat after the peace agreement but sporadic attacks are taking place in Swat on the security forces. Sufi Muhammad has also demanded of the government to implement Nizam-e-Adl regulation in the area till March 15. Meanwhile the government is claiming that it has defeated the militants in Bajaur Agency and they were now requesting a ceasefire in the area. The militants have also killed the Polish engineer in Dara Adam Khel when the government refused to release their jailed comrades.
Karachi witnessed sporadic incidents of terrorist attacks, political violence, criminal warfare and sectarian-related clashes during the reporting month. As many as 9 such incidents, including 2 terrorist attacks, 2 political clashes, 3 criminal gangs’ clashes and 2 incidents of sectarian clashes, killed 7 and injured another 24 people in Karachi.

Islamabad remained calm. There were however reported 6 incidents of terrorist attacks in Punjab, including a sectarian-related suicide attack in Dera Ghazi Khan, which killed 48 people and injured another 68. The Punjab is increasingly coming under sectarian/religious and Taliban-like militancy and violence. Especially the southern and western parts of the province are becoming prone to this kind of militancy. Moreover the political mayhem could lead the province to more chaotic security scenario in the near future.