Terrorist violence rose 70pc in Nov

ISLAMABAD: Marking an increase of 70 percent from the previous month, 17 terrorist attacks took place in Pakistan's three provinces during November 2019.

These attacks claimed 27 lives compared to 10 in the previous month - and injured 38 others, states a press release issued by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) here on Thursday. Among the 27 people martyred in terrorist attacks in November, 18 were personnel of security and law enforcement agencies including 7 FC men, 6 policemen, and 5 army soldiers, 7 civilians, and two militants.

The 38 who were injured included 21 civilians and 17 personnel of security forces and law enforcement agencies. Higher casualties among the law enforcers were due to the fact that 12 out of the 17 reported attacks were targeted against them.

As in the month before, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) faced most of the reported terrorist attacks in November (12, or over 70 percent of total attacks in Pakistan), which killed 15 people, compared to 8 in the previous month, and injured 16 others. Half of the total 12 reported attacks from KP concentrated in North Waziristan alone.

Three terrorist attacks took place in Balochistan, same as in the month before, which claimed 7 lives, including 5 FC officials, and injured 8 others. Baloch insurgent groups perpetrated all these attacks. Two terrorist attacks took place in Punjab that claimed five lives and injured 14 others. Baloch insurgent group BLA and the Hizbul Ahrar group perpetrated these attacks.

However, marking a significant decline from the previous month, 7 cross-border attacks happened inside Pakistan, all along the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

These attacks claimed one life and injured 8 others. In the previous month, 20 such attacks had killed 17 people along the LoC. For four months in a row, only one anti-militant operational strike was reported during the month under review, which killed one militant in Bajaur district of KP.

Meanwhile, security and law enforcement officials entered into 4 armed encounters and clashes with militants, thrice in parts of KP and once in Balochistan. In all, 6 suspected militants were killed in these incidents.