In Pakistan, there was a sharp increase in armed attacks in the month of August, with 99 incidents reported across the country, the highest number in any month since November 2014. These attacks resulted in 112 deaths and 87 injuries, most of which were Pakistan Army personnel. There was an 83% increase in attacks from July, when 54 attacks were reported.

According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), there were also four suicide attacks in August, three of which occurred in the tribal districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one in mainland KP. There were also five suicide attacks in July, the maximum in a year.

Overall, there were 22 suicide attacks in Pakistan in the first eight months of 2023, resulting in 227 deaths and 497 injuries. The data shows that Balochistan and the erstwhile FATA were the most affected areas by violence in August.

Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa province (excluding the tribal districts) also saw a significant increase in militant attacks, rising from 15 in July to 29 in August, an increase of 83%. There was also a 188% and 73% increase in deaths and injuries, respectively.

The province was primarily targeted by the TTP and splinter groups, which claimed responsibility for several attacks. There was a slight increase in attacks in Sindh, increasing from three in July to five in August. Deaths also rose from one to four.

Punjab province remained relatively peaceful and there were no reports of any attacks in August. The only attack in July was a low-intensity explosion near a police station in Lahore that injured one person.

The data also shows that security forces have remained the primary target of militant violence, accounting for 50% of all deaths and 63% of all injuries. There was a 51% increase in security force deaths in August 2023 compared to July.

In August, a total of 85 attacks were carried out by the Baloch armed freedom fighters, including a major attack on a Chinese citizen convoy in a sensitive area of Gwadar on August 13 by the BLA Majeed Brigade.

In the same month, an IED attack in Balghatar targeted a vehicle of Pak Army-backed trader’s vehicle, killing 7 people. Baloch freedom fighters targeted Pakistan Army personnel in various types of bombings and armed attacks in other cities, including the capital Quetta.

Weeks after the Jaranwala incident of mass vandalization of Churches on the call of radical clerics, Christians are again under attack.
In a viral video, a Christian man belonging to Sheikhpura in Lahore expressed the horrific situation saying that Jaranwala like call had been made from the local mosque. Frightened by the call, he along with his family fled their house and reached an unknown location. He stated that various other families have also fled the locality and are seeking refuge.

In the video, the man elucidates how an argument between a Christian man and a Muslim led to the atrocious calls. The allegations of blasphemy have been put on the local Christians and a large mob of radical Islamists had gathered to conclude the mischievous “purge”.

The aforesaid man urged the authorities to take strict measures to protect them and their houses. Blasphemy has been used as a brutal tool to target the religious minorities in Pakistan. Apparently, Hindus and Christians are under attack. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has crafted the law to oppress and harass the religious minorities, as a result, the radicalized individuals exploited it and made an environment of absolute anarchy.  

Pakistan has persistently undertaken a crackdown on the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders and activists. More recently, a PTM member named Qazi Tahir Masoud has been disappeared by the Pakistan Army.

Reports suggest that Tahir was abducted from his house in Manghopir Karachi at around 4:00 a.m. Being a member of PTM, he has been vocal for the human rights of Pashtuns. Tahir has also been raising his voice over the extra-judicial measures taken by the Pakistan authorities to oppress the people across Pakistan.

As of now, his whereabouts remain unknown. PTM has warned that if he is not released, their workers will organise a sit-in demonstration in front of the Mangopir Sultanabad police station. Abduction and enforced disappearances have been the tool of the Pakistan Army and its subsequent “so-called” law enforcement machinery. They use it to crush the voice of dissent.

After the Islamabad jalsa of PTM, Pakistan authorities are using every tactic possible to subvert the Pashtun masses. The large number of Pashtuns that gathered in Islamabad shook the Pakistan authorities and Army from its roots. Hence, with the sole motive of brutally crushing the Pashtun Movement, a series of illegal arrests and detention have ensued that needs to be highlighted.

On July 14, Pakistan Army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] released a rather stern statement that read, “The Armed Forces of Pakistan have serious concerns on the safe havens and liberty of action available to TTP in Afghanistan”.

Alleging that “The involvement of Afghan nationals in acts of terrorism in Pakistan is another important concern that needs to be addressed”, ISPR went as far as conveying an undisguised threat by stating that “Such attacks are intolerable and would elicit effective response from the Security Forces of Pakistan” [Emphasis added].

Though ISPR hasn’t specifically attributed these comments to Pakistan Army chief Gen Syed Asim Munir, its tone and tenor leave no room for any doubts that these are indeed his thoughts. Given the fact that just two days earlier, the Pakistan Army had suffered its most serious setback in recent times, his exasperation that resulted in such a vitriolic outburst is understandable.

Readers would recall that on July 12, the Pakistan Army lost 12 soldiers in South Western Balochistan. While nine soldiers were killed when Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] terrorists stormed an army base in Zhob district, three soldiers lost their lives when Baloch Liberation Army fighters targeted an army convoy in Sui. This was the largest single day fatalities suffered by Pakistan Army in recent time

This incident surely would have come as a major embarrassment for Gen Munir, because in the very first corps commanders’ conference that he chaired after taking over as the army chief it was pompously announced that the forum had “resolved to fight against terrorists without any distinction and eliminate this menace as per the aspirations of the people of Pakistan”. 

However, while the Pakistan Army has been conducting what it refers to as ‘intelligence based operations’ [IBOs] against terrorists and claiming that many terrorists “have been sent to hell”, yet there’s no discernable improvement in the security situation. While TTP and Baloch fighters continue targeting Pakistani security forces with impunity, Islamic State-Khorasan [IS-K] too has also joined in by carrying out a suicide bombing that killed 54 civilians in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] province on Jul 30.

Gen Munir’s threat of an “effective response from the Security Forces of Pakistan” is yet to materialise. On August 22, Dawn carried a reassuring news report about “state-to-state” talks between Islamabad and Kabul and quoted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] Counter Terrorism Department [CDT] chief Additional Inspector General Shaukat Abbas confirming that “very serious negotiations are underway“.

But just hours later, at least six Pakistan Army soldiers were killed during a “skirmish” with TTP terrorists in the Asman Manza area of South Waziristan district, indicating that the much hyped ‘state to state’ talks between Islamabad and Kabul was mere theatrics! And it seems that the same is also true for Gen Munir’s threat of “effective response from the Security Forces of Pakistan”.

August has been a particularly bad month for Rawalpindi. With TTP killing one junior commissioned officer and eight soldiers nine days after the deadly Asman Manza attack, this month becomes the one in which the Pakistan Army has suffered the highest number of casualties since 2014. Unfortunately, September too hasn’t started off too well as on the very first day of this month, the Pakistan Army has lost one Major and two soldiers in terrorist attacks along the Pak-Afghan border. So, if Islamabad is sanguine that “terrorists who shed the blood of Pakistanis can find refuge on Afghan soil”, then isn’t it evident that the Taliban government in Kabul is doing precious little to address Islamabad’s concerns about TTP sanctuaries on Afghanistan soil with the seriousness and sincerity it deserves?

Gen Munir has been quoted as saying that Pakistan’s armed forces were seriously concerned about the “safe havens and liberty of action” TTP has in Afghanistan. While Kabul has claimed that Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has announced that “If anyone goes outside of Afghanistan for the goal of ‘jihad’, it won’t be called jihad”, it’s apparent that TTP has not heeded this message. So, with diplomatic means to resolve this grave issue yielding no results, doesn’t it become incumbent on Rawalpindi to consider the military option of striking TTP bases inside Afghanistan?

With the Pakistan Army admitting that it has lost more than 100 soldiers in terrorist related incidents since the beginning of this year, isn’t it high time Rawalpindi struck at the very fountainhead of TTP terror and targeted its leadership rather than being content with sending a handful of low level fighters to “Hell”? What is holding back Rawalpindi from taking decisive action to ensure security of its own rank and file is incomprehensible!

Even though he may be at the right place, Gen Munir is still an unlucky Army chief as he is there at the wrong time. By portraying TTP as an Indian proxy being helped by US backed regimes in Kabul, his predecessors and denying its large scale presence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] had avoided public censure for the Pakistan Army’s failure to decimate this terrorist group. However, with Rawalpindi’s protégé Taliban now in the seat of power in Kabul and TTP running riot in KP, this excuse is no longer convincing.

Many opine that the Pakistan Army’s top leadership is not mentally inclined to take the battle against TTP to its logical conclusion for a host of reasons, the main being that it may necessitate targeting TTP hideouts on Afghanistan soil. It appears that Rawalpindi has been intimidated by its former ally and Taliban’s current interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani’s veiled threat that “If they [Pakistan Army] want to solve the [TTP] issue through force in Afghanistan, the two nations that have a lot in common, will be harmed”.

Accordingly, it’s likely that Gen Munir’s threat that if Taliban fails to rein-in TTP then these “intolerable attacks would draw an effective response,” was made with the intention of playing to the domestic gallery. While this may or may not be true, Rawalpindi’s ambivalence in taking the TTP menace by its horns does support this inference!

So as TTP attacks against the Pakistani security forces continue unabated, it seems all that Rawalpindi can do is to placate the terrorism weary of Pakistan by repeating its hollow pledge that “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve!”.