Since last year, Pakistan has seen a surge in violent attacks. In December 2022, nine attacks occurred in the troubled southwestern province of Balochistan, killing at least six security personnel. Two of the attacks were claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. The group recently violated a ceasefire with the government and directed its fighters to launch attacks across the country. TTP claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Islamabad, the federal capital, that killed a police officer and injured several others.
After a 40-hour standoff, Pakistani security prevented a TTP attack in Banu city. The TTP’s history of violence can be traced back to the 2014 Army Public School attack in Peshawar, in which six TTP-affiliated gunmen killed innocent students and staff. According to the Global Terrorism Index, terrorism attacks in Pakistan have decreased since 2018, with the total number of terrorist incidents dropping from 369 in 2018 to 279 in 2019, and 18 in 2022, bringing the number of terrorism deaths in Pakistan to its lowest annual total since 2006.
In 2020, there were 319 terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). According to Pakistan’s National Counterterrorism Authority (NACTA), terrorism attacks killed 357 people in Pakistan in 2020, a significant increase from the previous year. According to the Islamabad-based research organization Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), the TTP and its affiliate groups carried out more than 150 attacks in the first 11 months of 2022, resulting in more than 150 deaths, the majority of whom were members of law enforcement agencies.
Among all of this unrest, internal security challenges pose a significant threat to the nation’s stability and citizens’ well-being. Terrorism, extremism, and sectarian violence have all cost the country dearly in terms of human lives and economic losses. The rise of radical groups, weapon proliferation, and the lack of a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy have all contributed to today’s security challenges. The government and military have been working to eliminate these threats through operations in tribal areas and urban areas, with mixed results at best. The Taliban and other militant groups continue to pose a significant threat to the country, carrying out a number of major attacks in recent years. Pakistan is also reeling from a paralyzing economic situation, with foreign exchange reserves reduced to $6.7 billion, a four-year low, and record-breaking inflation, as well as dealing with the aftermath of this summer’s devastating floods, which killed over 1,700 people and caused damages estimated at more than $30 billion as the waters destroyed crops, roads, bridges, and homes.
The Taliban’s return to power, on the other hand, reinvigorated the TTP. The group claimed credit for the Taliban’s victory. Long-standing battlefield, political, ethnic, and ideological ties exist between the TTP and the Taliban. As a result, rather than offering assistance to Pakistan, the Taliban regime dismissed the TTP as a matter for Pakistan’s internal affairs. The Taliban only offered to help facilitate political negotiations if both Pakistan and the TTP agreed to settle their differences. Another factor contributing to the resurgence of terrorism is Pakistan’s participation in talks with the TTP from a position of weakness. This provided the militant group with much-needed time and space to regroup and expand its network in Pakistan.
The first attempt to reach a peace agreement was made in 2021, but it failed when the TTP violated the one-month ceasefire in December and resumed attacks. In May 2022, a second attempt was made. It resulted in an indefinite cease-fire and a formal peace process between the two sides in June. However, peace talks quickly came to a halt as both sides refused to budge from their stated positions, including the reversal of the ex-FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) region’s union with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The TTP demanded that the merger be reversed, but Pakistan refused to accept this demand. In any case, the TTP called off the ceasefire and directed its fighters to resume attacks across Pakistan on November 28, effectively ending the second attempt to reach a political settlement. The recent attack on Peshawar’s Police Lines Mosque has shocked and saddened the nation. The senseless act of violence, which occurred during a time of worship, serves as a stark reminder of the danger that still exists. The attack was deemed a “probably suicide attack” by the Peshawar police chief, adding to the tragedy of the situation. It is a cruel and vicious act to target a mosque, a place of worship and refuge, in order to instill fear in the hearts of the people. Pakistan has faced a slew of internal and external challenges, including political insecurity, economic hardship, and, most notably, a tenacious fight against religious radicalism and terrorism.
Generations of Pakistani leaders have attempted to use Islamic ideology to encourage its diverse population to favor national unity and to counter external threats since the country’s inception in the name of religion. In the process, an uneducated Muslim population has been deliberately duped and robbed of its rights in the name of religious paradise. Pakistan’s leaders’ flirtations with Islam, particularly Zia-al-Islamization Haq’s program, eventually resulted in the religious radicalism that is at the heart of Pakistani terrorism today and threatens the country’s stability in various ways.
Religious militancy and terrorism have not only destabilized Pakistan internally, but have also placed it in an unfavorable regional and international position. Even when extremist forces were promoting certain of the government’s strategic objectives, the Pakistani government seemed to unable to manage them at key moments. Pakistan’s future, as a country of immense importance with a population of 243 million and a nuclear arsenal, is dependent on its ability to successfully control militancy and extremism. The country’s internal insecurity has far-reaching consequences, affecting not only the country itself, but also neighboring countries like China, India, and Iran, as well as its western neighbor Afghanistan. The outcome of this internal conflict will also have an impact on Pakistan’s crucial relationships with Saudi Arabia and the United States. Over the last eight years, the country has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, leading the charge in Afghanistan’s border regions.
Despite these initiatives, the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 led to a 55% increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Thus, the future of this strategically located home nation will be decided by the conflict with militant and violent forces, and the rest of the world needs to wait in intrigue. Pakistan needs to rise to the occasion and triumph over the evil that exists because the world recognizes how essential a sustainable and developed Pakistan is.
