Terrorism in Pakistan

Terrorism in Pakistan, according to the Ministry of Interior, poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan. The wave of terrorism in Pakistan is believed to have started in 2000. Attacks and fatalities in Pakistan were on a "declining trend" between 2015 and 2019, but has gone back up from 2020 to 2022, with 971 fatalities (229 civilians, 379 Security Force (SF) personnel and 363 terrorists) in 2022.

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

According to a 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. Moreover, according to the Government of Pakistan, the direct and indirect economic costs of terrorism from 2000 to 2010 total $68 billion. In 2018, Pakistani newspaper Dawn News reported that the Pakistani economy suffered a total loss of $126.79 billion since 2001 due to the war on terror.

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

As of 2022, most terrorist activities in Pakistan have been concentrated in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounting for 64 percent of the reported casualties (633 fatalities in 2022), followed by 26 percent in Balochistan, 5.8 percent in Sindh and 2.8 percent in Punjab.

The roots of terrorism in Pakistan can be traced back to 1979 when Soviet Union had occupied Afghanistan.^{[unreliable source?]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

David B. Edwards, a Williams College anthropology professor with expertise in the development of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, noted that Pakistan’s military intelligence service initially supported the Taliban insurgency but later ended up combating it, remarking that "they (Pakistan) created their own 'Frankenstein', and they thought they could control them."

In a report published by the Defence Ministry, It said that the incidents of terrorism in Pakistan had seen an increase in 2023 compared to 2018 and 2021 after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The subsequent takeover of Afghanistan by the Afghan Taliban was followed by the release of 1500 TTP militants from Afghan jails.