Islamabad, Pakistan (VOA) —
According to a report released on Saturday (30/9), militant attacks have surged in Pakistan, killing more than 700 security officers and civilians in the first nine months of this year.
The independent think tank, the Center for Research and Security Studies or CRSS (Center for Research and Security Studies), released the report one day after a suicide bomb attack and a number of insurgent raids in southwestern Baluchistan Province and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, killing at least 69 people. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Friday (29/9).
The report noted that the number of deaths due to terrorist attacks this year increased by 19 percent compared to 2022. Around 92 percent of all deaths occurred in two Pakistani provinces that border Afghanistan.
“Pakistan’s security forces lost at least 386 personnel, about 36% of all casualties, including 137 armed forces personnel and 208 police officers — in the first nine months of 2023, marking the highest figure in eight years,” the CRSS said.
The report said 33 paramilitary soldiers, supervised by the military, were also among the dead.
However, the Indian military has also confirmed the deaths of 214 soldiers and officers this year in a number of counterterrorism operations and insurgent attacks, based on data collected by VOA from official military statements through its media unit, Inter-Services Public Relations.
Deadly Day
The attack on Friday (29/9) was one of the deadliest days in Pakistan in recent months. Most of the fatalities occurred in Mastung where a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd of worshipers commemorating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Mastung is a district in the vulnerable Balochistan Province.
The powerful explosion killed 59 people and injured dozens more. Another fatal attack targeting security forces occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, an offshoot of the outlawed Islamic State terrorist group, and the Baluch separatist rebel group, have often claimed responsibility or been blamed for violence in Pakistan. TTP is often also known as Islamic-State Khorasan or IS-K.
The TTP, which is on the global terrorist list, operates from outside Afghanistan and has stepped up attacks since the Taliban took power in the war-torn neighboring country, Pakistani officials said.
Islamabad has stepped up diplomatic pressure on Kabul to prevent the TTP from carrying out cross-border terrorist attacks from safe havens in Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani confirmed that Taliban authorities had arrested 200 TTP militants in Afghanistan for launching attacks against Pakistan. The Afghan side has so far not denied these claims. (ft/ah)