An Overview
Sectarian violence escalated across the country in the Islamic month of Muharram and Ashura processions–Shia mourning processions observed on 10th of Muharram–were frequently targeted by the Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and banned sectarian groups. Targeted killing of Sunni and Shia community also continued during the reporting month. Nevertheless, the militants intensified their assaults on security forces, civilians, pro-government tribal elders, and educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, FATA, Karachi and Balochistan. The number of suicide attacks also increased and the country faced seven suicide attacks in the month of November. Operational attacks by the security forces and their clashes with militants besides border clashes and attacks as well as political violence in Karachi remained the important feature of volatile security landscape of Pakistan.

A total of 149 terrorist attacks were reported across Pakistan that left 172 people dead and 497 others injured. (See Chart 1) Out of 149 attacks, 36 attacks were sectarian in nature whereas 19 were carried out by nationalist insurgents; the rest of the attacks were carried out by different Taliban groups and other banned militant outfits.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Karachi were the worst affected areas of the country in terms of number of attacks and the casualties. As many as 49 terrorist attacks were reported in KP, the maximum number of terrorist attacks among all the regions, that left 41 people dead and 198 others injured. Whereas 46 people were killed and 73 others injured in 26 reported attacks in Karachi throughout the month. Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) faced 41 terrorist attacks that resulted in death of 30 people and injuries to 107 others. As many as 30 terrorist attacks took place in Balochistan that left 31 people dead and 78 others injured. Moreover two terrorist attacks were reported from Gilgit Baltistan that killed one person and injured another. 23 people were killed and 40 others injured in one reported sectarian-related terrorist attack in Punjab whereas Islamabad and Pakistan-administered Kashmir remained peaceful.   

Chart 1: Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan in November 2012

On the whole, 187 incident of violence were reported from different parts of Pakistan, including above mentioned terrorist/insurgent attacks, operational attacks by the security forces and their clashes with the militants, incidents of ethno-political violence, inter-tribal clashes, and cross- border attacks as well as drone strikes, that left 283 people dead and 571 others injured. (See Table 2) The overall incidents of violence, as described in Table 2, decreased by 8 percent as compared with the last month, and the number of people killed decreased by 28 percent whereas the number of people injured went up by 27 percent.  

In 8 incidents of political and ethnic violence, mostly reported from Karachi, 15 people lost their lives. Meanwhile 7 operational attacks by the Pakistani security forces and their 6 clashes with militants as well as a US drone strike took place in FATA wherein 53 suspected militants were killed and the same number of them injured. Moreover 8 cross-border attacks and clashes were reported, 4 on Pak-Afghan border and two each on Pak-Indian and Pak-Iran borders, that killed 7 people and injured 6 others. Meanwhile 3 incidents of inter-tribal clashes, one sectarian clash between the sectarian groups and two clashes between criminal gangs were also observed in this month.  

A comparison of this month’s security situation–using the variables of the number of overall attacks/clashes given in Table 2 and the resulting killings and injuries–with the last three month’s security landscape reveal a mix trend. (See Chart 3) The overall number of attacks/clashes went down in this month as compared to the last month. However the number of deaths caused by these incidents decreased significantly but the number of injuries went up in the reporting month.   

Chart 3: Comparison with Last Three Months’ Figure

This month civilians faced the highest number of fatalities compared to the militants and the security forces as 198 civilians were killed and 434 others injured in overall reported incidents of violence across country. As many as 55 militants were killed and 53 others injured in this month, whereas 30 security personnel were also killed and 84 others sustained injuries. (See Chart 4, Table 4a)

Chart 4: Detail of Casualties

Table 4a: Distribution of Security Forces’ Casualties Type Killed Injured Frontier Corp 5 12 Police 15 34 Army 6 13 Levis 1 10 Rangers 3 15 Total 30 84

Direct firing or shootout was the most frequently used tactic by militants with 52 reported attacks to hit their targets. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) used in 25 attacks, rockets in 20 attacks, remote control bombs in 19 attacks, land mine and bomb blasts in 10 attacks each were among the other foremost tactics used by the militants in this month. (See Table 5)