Terror and political events in Pakistan during 2015

Although terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan and Army's consistent fight against the anti-state elements and their facilitators eclipsed most other happenings during the year 2015, the sailing wasn't smooth for some of the country's major political parties like the MQM, PPP and the PTI either.

Here follow some of the main events that had shaped the year 2015 for Pakistan and were hence flashed extensively by the local media: 

On January 8, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan had married Reham Khan, a former BBC weather host and a divorced mother of three at his Islamabad residence in a simple ceremony---cutting out some work for the local media houses in the chill of January.

On January 9, a suicide bomb attack on a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi had claimed at least seven lives.

On January 11, a deadly road accident between an oil tanker and passenger coach on the Pakistan National Highway Link Road near Karachi had left at least 62 dead with scores wounded as both vehicles had caught fire. 

On January 13, insurgents had shot and killed at least seven security forces in Balochistan's Loralai district.

On January 25, a massive power blackout had struck Pakistan, leaving as much as 80 per cent of the country without electricity at one point. The country was plunged into darkness after a key power transmission lines had broken down. While the government said the blackout had resulted due to a technical fault from Guddu transmission line, a spokesman of the Baloch Republican Army had claimed that the defunct militant group had carried out the bombing of two 220 kv transmission lines in Balochistan's Nasirabad district. 

On January 30, at least 60 people were killed and over four dozen were wounded when a powerful bomb had blasted at a Shikarpur Imambargah minutes before the Friday prayers.

On February 7, the Baldia Town factory inferno case took a dramatic turn when a report by Rangers in the Sindh High Court claimed that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was behind the deadly fire that claimed the lives of at least 258 factory workers.

The report said an arrested MQM worker had revealed that a "well-known party high official" had demanded Rs200 million as extortion money from Ali Enterprises owners in August 2012. When denied the extortion, a few MQM stalwarts had set the factory on fire, the Rangers report had added.

On February 13, at least 22 were left dead after Taliban had stormed into a Peshawar mosque.

On February 17, at least eight people were killed in a blast near Police Lines in Lahore's Qila Gujar Singh area.

On March 11, a heavy contingent of Rangers had raided the MQM headquarters Nine Zero in Azizabad Karachi, rounding up dozens of party workers, besides seizing a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the premises.

On March 14, a female model Ayyan Ali was arrested at Benazir Bhutto International Airport by the Airport Security Force for allegedly attempting to smuggle undeclared sum of US $506,800 abroad. She was held moments before boarding a Dubai-bound flight.

The model spent 122 days in detention before finally getting a bail. The case is still being heard.

On March 15, bombings of a Lahore church had killed at least 15 people. Two blasts had rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Christ Church during Sunday service at Lahore's Youhanabad locality.

On March 19, video confessions of a death-row convict Saulat Mirza had surfaced hours before his execution. He said he was being used as political pawn by the MQM leadership. Saulat Mirza was later hanged till death for killing a KESC Managing Director Shahid Hamid, his driver and a guard on July 5, 1997 in Karachi.

On April 6, the Parliamentary members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), including Chairman PTI Imran Khan, had returned to parliament, though they were not treated in the best of ways by key PML-N leaders like Khawaja Asif, who had gone on to slate the political party in harshest possible words.

On April 11, militants had gunned down 20 labourers in Balochistan.

On April 14, MQM chief Altaf Hussain was detained in London on suspicion of money-laundering, prompting thousands of his supporters in Karachi to stage a sit-in that called for his release.

A spokesman for the British High Commission had said that the UK’s consulate in Karachi had been temporarily closed down. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the issue of Hussain’s arrest was of an extremely sensitive nature, adding that the government would take all legal angles into account.

On April 24, a renowned female human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Karachi.

On May 1, Deputy Superintendent of Police Bin Abdul Fateh was gunned down in Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of Karachi. 

On May 10, another DSP Zulfiqar Zaidi was gunned down along with his friend in Shah Faisal Colony of Karachi.

On May 13, eight armed assailants had ruthlessly killed at least 46 people after they had forcibly stopped a bus carrying the members of Ismaili community in Karachi's Safoora Goth locality. The horrific attack had drawn worldwide condemnation, as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also announced a day of mourning for the deceased souls.

On May 19, the Zimbabwean Cricket Team had toured Pakistan to play International Cricket Series. It was the first tour by a Test-playing nation since the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009.

On May 29, some 35 people are forced off a bus and kidnapped by members of the United Baluch Army in Mastung. Some 23 of those passengers were killed. The gunmen were disguised as Pakistani security members. The ill-fated bus was travelling from Quetta to Karachi.

On June 6, gunmen in Quetta had opened fire on a vehicle carrying police officers, killing four of them before fleeing.

On June 9, unknown gunmen had targeted a police van in Shah Latif area of Karachi, killing Deputy Superintendent of Police Majeed Abbas on the spot.

On June 16, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari gave a hard-hitting speech, whereby he had lashed out at the military establishment for overstepping its domain. He was visibly disturbed over the corruption cases that were being lodged against some of his key colleagues.

On July 1, three Punjabi welders were shot dead in an ethnically motivated attack at a shop in Sirki Road area of Quetta.

On July 23, the three-member judicial commission headed by Chief Justice Pakistan had rejected all the three allegations of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on rigging in the 2013 general elections. He had sent a detailed report in this context to the Ministry of Law. The three main allegations of the PTI included organised rigging in the 2013 general elections, non-transparent polling and theft of the public mandate. 

The 274-page report said there were irregularities to the extent of the Election Commission but they did not constitute a reflection of a deviation from the public mandate. 

Imran Khan had categorically said following the formation of the commission that he would accept the decision of the commission. The commission had initiated its proceedings on April 9 and concluded around 85-day work on July 03, 2015.

During its proceedings, the plaintiff PTI had produced 16 witnesses while other parties including the PML-N, PML-Q and the Jamaat-e-Islami etc had also presented their witnesses. The commission had held 39 hearings, while it had also held two in-camera meetings and one meeting in the chamber.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a televised address, said the report endorsed the government’s point of view on the issue, as well as the mandate of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

The Premier had said: "As the most credible institution in the country has endorsed the results of the 2013 general elections, baseless allegations should stop once and for all now. I have ordered the inquiry commission’s report to be made public."

On July 27, two policemen and a woman were killed when unidentified militants had attacked the convoy of SP Zahoor Afridi on Sariab Road area in Quetta of Balochistan.

On July 28, Malik Ishaq, chief of Lashkar-e-Jjangvi, his two sons Usman and Haq Nawaz, and 11 others were killed in an alleged exchange of fire with police in Shahwala area of Punjab's Muzaffargarh District. At least six Policemen were injured in the encounter.

On August 16, Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada was assassinated in a suicide attack at his political office at Attock. Nineteen other people present at scene were also killed and more than 20 sustained injuries in the attack.

In August 2015, a shocking child abuse scandal was unearthed in Kasur district. The scam had jolted the whole nation as initial reports surfaced that 400 videos of some 280 children were recovered. The reports said the kids were forced to have sex while being filmed. It was revealed that the tapes were also being sold to locals in the town for Rs 50 and even were being sold to paedophile websites overseas.

On August 19, sitting MNA and a senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Rashid Godil, was critically injured when unknown suspects had fired at his car in Karachi’s Bahadurabad area. Godil's driver Abdul Mateen was killed on the spot.

On August 22, Punjab election commission's tribunal had ordered re-polling in National Assembly constituency, NA-122, declaring the election in the constituency null and void --de-seating Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq forthwith and accepting Imran Khan's petition challenging the 2013 election result.

On August 26, Asif Zardari's key aide and former Petroleum Minister, Dr. Asim Hussain, was arrested by law enforcement agencies on corruption charges. On November 26, Dr. Asim was accused of harbouring and providing medical treatment to militants and criminals at his hospital in Karachi.

According to the police report filed against him, Dr. Asim had confessed during the investigation that both his hospitals had treated militants, criminals belonging to Karachi’s notorious gangs and the ones hailing from a key political party in the Port city.

On September 7, former National Assembly Speaker and PML-N leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had approached the Supreme Court against the election tribunal’s NA-122 case verdict, which had deseated him as the NA Speaker and parliamentarian.

On September 13, at least 10 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a remote-controlled bomb explosion near Vehari Chowk in Multan. 

On September 18, terrorists had attacked a Pakistan Air Force camp in Badaber area of Peshawar, resulting in the martyrdom of 29 personnel including a serving Captain.

On October 11, PML-N candidate Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had defeated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate Abdul Aleem Khan by a narrow margin in thrilling NA-122 by-polls and hence succeeded in regaining Speakership of National Assembly on November 9 after bagging 268 votes. His rival, Shafqat Mahmood of PTI, could succeed in winning the nod of 31 NA members only.

On October 14, at least seven people, including a district council and two union council candidates, were killed in a suicide blast at camp office of MNA Amjad Farooq Khosa in Taunsa Sharif Tehsil of Dera Ghazi Khan district.

On October 20, at least 11 people were killed and another 22 were wounded after a bomb had exploded in a bus in Quetta.

On October 23, at least 24 people were killed in a suspected suicide attack in Jacobabad. The blast took place outside the residence of a local Shia leader ahead of a Muharram procession.

On October 30, Imran Khan and wife Reham had parted ways, dissolving a 10-month old marriage.

On November 20, unknown suspects had gunned down at least three paramilitary soldiers and injured a fourth as they guarded a mosque in Karachi.

On December 1, gunmen riding a motorcycle had shot dead two military policemen in Karachi.

On December 13, a remote-controlled bomb blast in a Kurram tribal region market had killed 25 and wounded 45.

On December 21, two separate bomb attacks had killed three people and wounded two others, including a senior Pakistani army officer, in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border.

On December, PTI's Jahengir Khan Tareen had convincingly won the NA-154 Lodhran by-polls by trampling all over PML-N's Siddique Baloch, hence giving something to his party leadership to cheer about.

On December 25, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a surprise "goodwill" visit to Pakistan. Modi, who had announced the trip via Twitter while he was still in Kabul, had met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore. The day incidentally marked the birthdays of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, sitting Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif and former Indian Premier Atal Bihari Bajpayee. And yes, it was Christmas too! Modi, during his visit to Raiwind, had also felicitated Nawaz Sharif on the wedding of his granddaughter. The visit has surely melted some ice between the two hostile nations.

On December 29, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle had killed 26 people after crashing into the main gate of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) offices in Mardan city.

On December 30, FIA had suummoned former Premier Shaukat Aziz in High Treason case.

On December 30, it was reported by local media that some 20 men, women and children from Lahore had travelled to Syria to join Daesh.raising many an eyebrow!

On December 31, Pakistani singer Adnan Sami Khan was granted Indian citizenship.