Terrorism in Pakistan

Terrorism in Pakistan according to Ministry of Interior, poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan. The current wave of terrorism is believed to have started in 2000[1] and peaked during 2009. Since then it has drastically declined as result of military operations conducted by the Pakistan Army.[2] According to South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP), terrorism in Pakistan has declined by 89% in 2017 since 2009.[2]

Since 2001, Pakistan military has launched series of military offensive against terrorist groups in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The offensive brought peace in those areas and the rest of the country.[3][4] Many terrorists belonging to various terrorist groups were killed. However, some militants managed to flee to Afghanistan.[5][6] From Afghanistan, those militants continue to launch attacks on Pakistan military posts located near the border.[7] In 2017, Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah admitted that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has a foothold in Afghanistan.[8] In 2019, United States Department of Defense claimed that about 3,000 to 5,000 terrorists belonging to TTP are in Afghanistan.[9]

According to report by Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, 23,372 Pakistani civilians and 8,832 Pakistani security personnel were killed in the war on terrorism.[10] Moreover, According to the government of Pakistan, the direct and indirect economic costs of terrorism from 2000–2010 total $68 billion.[11] In 2018 Pakistani newspaper, Dawn news, reported that the Pakistani economy suffered a total loss of $126.79 billion due to war on terror since 2001.[12]

Pakistan officials often blame India and Afghanistan for supporting terrorism in Pakistan. India has denied Pakistan's allegations. However, Afghanistan has admitted providing support to terrorist groups such as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In 2013, United States conducted raid on an Afghan convoy that was taking Latif Mehsud to Kabul. Latif was a senior commander of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).[13] Afghan President's spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, told reporters that the National Directorate of Security (NDS) was working with Latif. Latif was conduit for funding to TTP. Some of the funding for TTP might have come from NDS.[14] Former NDS head, Asadullah Khalid, posted a video belonging to TTP on his Twitter account where he claimed that Badaber Camp attack was tit for tat.[15]

List of terrorist incidents since 2001
Main article: List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001

Causes

The roots of terrorism in Pakistan can be traced back to 1979 when Soviet Union had occupied Afghanistan.[16] Terrorism in Pakistan originated after Pakistan supported the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War, and the subsequent civil war that erupted in Afghanistan. The mujahideen fighters were trained by Pakistan's military, American CIA and other western intelligence agencies who continued operations in the area after the war officially ended.

War on terrorism
Main article: Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Fatalities in terrorist violence in Pakistan, (2000–present)

The current wave of terrorism peaked during 2009. Since then it has declined as result of selective military operations conducted by the Pakistan Army.[2] According to South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP), terrorism in Pakistan has declined by 89% in 2017 since its peak years in 2009.[2]

In 2012, the Pakistani leadership sat down to sort out solutions for dealing with the menace of terrorism and in 2013, political parties unanimously reached a resolution on Monday 9, September 2013, at the All Parties Conference (APC), stating that negotiation with the militants should be pursued as their first option to counter terrorism.[17]

With the terrorists attacks continuing in late 2013 the political leadership in Pakistan initiated a military operation against terrorists named Operation Zarb-e-Azb; a joint military offensive against various militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jundallah, al-Qaeda, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the Haqqani network.[18] The operation was launched by the Pakistan Armed Forces on 15 June 2014 in North Waziristan (part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border) as a renewed effort against militancy in the wake of the 8 June attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, for which the TTP and the IMU claimed responsibility.[19]

Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been described as turning point in Pakistan war on terrorism. The operation was successful and Pakistan experienced sharp decline in terrorism since the launch of the operation.[20] According to National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Pakistan experienced largest number of terrorist attack in 2010. Since 2014, terrorist attacks in Pakistan have significantly declined. Pakistani officials state that the terrorism in Pakistan will decline more once the fencing of Pakistan-Afghanistan border is complete.[20]

Pakistani newspaper, Dawn news, reports that Pakistan's economic losses due to war on terrorism declined by 62% from 2014 to 2018. The Pakistani economy suffered $23.77 billion in 2010-11 due to expenses related to war on terrorism. This amount declined to $12 billion in 2011-12. In 2016-17, Pakistan economy suffered $5.47 billion and $2.07 billion on 2017-18. Pakistani government estimates that Pakistan has suffered total losses of $126.79 billion since 9/11 attacks.[12]

Afghan President's spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, told reporters that the National Directorate of Security (NDS) was working with Latif. Latif was conduit for funding to TTP. Some of the funding for TTP might have come from NDS.[21] Former NDS head, Asadullah Khalid, posted a video belonging to TTP on his Twitter account where he claimed that Badaber Camp attack was tit for tat.[22]

See also

References
  1. "Fatalities in terrorist violence in Pakistan 2003-2018". South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP). Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  2. "Terrorism in Pakistan decline by 89% in 8 years". ProPakistani. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  3. "Once terror-hit region now ready to welcome students". Gulf News. 21 March 2019.
  4. "Pakistan says normalcy returns to former Taliban stronghold". Associated Press (AP). 27 January 2019.
  5. "Pakistani Taliban: Between infighting, government crackdowns and Daesh". TRT News. 18 April 2019.
  6. "US Drone Kills Afghan-Based Pakistani Taliban Commander". Voice of America (VOA). 4 July 2018.
  7. "Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed cross-border attack targeting Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan". Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism (ITCT). 19 September 2018.
  8. "TTP has a foothold in Afghanistan". Dawn News. 17 November 2017.
  9. "Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom's Sentinel I Quarterly Report to the United States Congress I January 1, 2019 – March 31, 2019". Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoDIG). Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. "US war on terror killed at least 65,000 people in Pakistan: study". The Nation. 9 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018.
  11. Why they get Pakistan wrong| Mohsin Hamid| NYRoB 29 September 2011
  12. "62pc cut in war on terror losses". Dawn News. 27 April 2018.
  13. Matthew Rosenberg. "U.S. Disrupts Afghans' Tack on Militants". New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  14. Umar Farooq (1 January 2014). "Afghanistan-Pakistan: The covert war". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Latif spent much of his time since 2010 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it is believed he was a conduit for funding to the TTP. It now appears some of that funding might have come from Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS)....Yet, the president’s spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, openly told reporters the NDS had been working with Latif “for a long period of time.” Latif, Faizi said, “was part of an NDS project like every other intelligence agency is doing.”
  15. "Former Afghan intelligence head says Badaber attack is a 'tit for tat', terms TTP militants as 'martyrs'". Daily Pakistan. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015.
  16. "Terrorism in Pakistan". The Nation. 20 April 2016.
  17. "APC: Political leaders decide on Taliban talks as first step". 9 September 2013.
  18. US commander commends Zarb-e-Azb for disrupting Haqqani network's ability to target Afghanistan 6 November 2014., The Express Tribune
  19. "Gunmen kill 13 at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport". BBC News. 9 June 2014.
  20. Umar Farooq (1 January 2019). "Terror incidents continued to decline in 2018". Archived from the original on 2 January 2019.
  21. Umar Farooq (1 January 2014). "Afghanistan-Pakistan: The covert war". The Diplomat. Latif spent much of his time since 2010 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it is believed he was a conduit for funding to the TTP. It now appears some of that funding might have come from Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS)....Yet, the president’s spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, openly told reporters the NDS had been working with Latif “for a long period of time.” Latif, Faizi said, “was part of an NDS project like every other intelligence agency is doing.”
  22. "Former Afghan intelligence head says Badaber attack is a 'tit for tat', terms TTP militants as 'martyrs'". Daily Pakistan. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015.

Bibliography
  • Hassan Abbas. Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, The Army, And America's War On Terror, M.E. Sharpe, 2004. ISBN 0-7656-1497-9
  • Zahid Hussain. Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-231-14224-2

Further reading
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