Militancy soared in Pakistan after Taliban offensive in Afghanistan: Report

A study by Pakistani thinktank has stated that the rise in militancy in the country coincided with the Taliban’s increasing offensive in Afghanistan that started in May and achieved its ultimate peak when the radical organisation took over Afghanistan in mid-August.

The study conducted by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Study (PICSS) noted that the highest number of attacks in a single month in 2021 was recorded in August when 45 attacks were carried out by militants.

The average number of militant attacks in Pakistan saw a 36 per cent jump. In 2020, 16 attacks were recorded while in 2021, it soared to 25, which was the highest after 2017, the report stated.

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According to PICSS data, Balochistan was the most affected district, recording a 110 per cent rise in militancy attacks, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tribal districts with 27 per cent in 2021.

Balochistan province also recorded the most deaths (170) in 103 attacks. The highest number of injured were also reported from this region where more than 50 per cent of the total injured (331) were recorded.

The tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the second most affected region of the country which though witnessed a similar number of attacks as Balochistan (103), but saw lesser deaths (117).

In Sindh, 15 militant attacks were reported in which 23 people were killed and 29 injured. In Punjab, militants carried out 10 attacks in which 10 people were killed and 87 injured.

The militant attacks went up in 2021 in almost all administrative regions of the country except Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan.

(With inputs from agencies)