Pakistan’s first victim: Taliban terrorism in Afghanistan poses the greatest threat to neighboring countries
Militant attacks have been on the rise in Pakistan, killing more than 450 people, mostly security forces, in the first nine months of this year, with officials condemning the violence as “isolated terrorist incidents”.
Afghan terrorism
The Voice of America network confirmed that Islamabad attributes the resurgence of militancy to the Taliban’s control over war-torn Afghanistan, where anti-Pakistan militants have taken refuge and continue to direct cross-border attacks. Officials have confirmed that about 350 soldiers and members of other law enforcement agencies were killed in hundreds of attacks during the first nine months of 2022, while the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for many of the attacks.
Security officials said the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, had the highest number of TTP attacks, killing 96 soldiers and injuring at least 280 others, while the provincial police department confirmed the deaths of 82 security personnel.
Major damage
According to the US network, other casualties occurred in 2022 elsewhere in Pakistan, largely in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Baloch insurgents have stepped up deadly ambushes and gun attacks against security forces.
A Pakistani military official denied suggestions that militancy was on the rise in his country, saying that counter-terrorism efforts had succeeded over the years in achieving a noticeable improvement in the security situation across the country.
“Because of the strange security situation in Afghanistan, Afghan territory has been used as a safe haven for terrorists against Pakistan,” the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “There have been sporadic and isolated incidents in the newly integrated provinces, which cannot in any way be accounted for, and the number of terrorist incidents has escalated, in comparison to the magnitude and gravity of terrorist incidents in the past.”
The US network said civil society remains skeptical about the Taliban’s claims that it is effectively preventing terrorist groups from threatening other countries. The rise of extremist activities of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the resurgence of its fighters in some of its former strongholds in northwest Pakistan in recent weeks have triggered a violent popular response, with thousands of residents repeatedly taking to the streets to demand the restoration of security.
