ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has witnessed an alarming 81 percent surge in terrorism-related incidents in the first quarter of 2025, with 80 terror attacks and 218 fatalities reported so far compared to the same period of 2024 in which the country recorded 44 incidents of terrorism and 143 fatalities.
Security expert and analyst, Imtiaz Gul, while speaking to Business Recorder said that anti-state separatist and terrorist groups are taking advantage of the present disconnect between the people and the state institutions and have ramped up their subversive activities. The disconnect means the state security apparatus has lost the eyes and ears of the people that is so critical for a state’s fight against criminals and non-state actors.
According to the data collected by Business Recorder from South Asia Terrorism Portal (STP) and Global Terror Index (GTI), a total of 80 incidents of terrorism were witnessed from January till March 17, 2025, with provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan being the most affected provinces; whereas 44 terror-related incidents and 143 killings were recorded in the calendar year 2024.
During the current year, a rise in incidents of terrorism-related was recorded, with 31 incidents taking place in January, 38 in February and 11 in March.
The majority of the attacks were carried out in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan as the data shows that erstwhile FATA and some districts witnessed 57 militant attacks while Balochistan witnessed over 24 attacks from January 1 to March 17 of the current year.
The majority of terror attacks are believed to be carried out by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), its splinter groups and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
Among the major incidents is the hijacking of Jaffar Express train on March 13 when the train, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar and carrying 440 passengers, was ambushed by the BLA terrorists.
Similarly, on February 28 Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani — son of Maulana Samiul Haq and chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-S) and six other perished in a suicide attack at the Darul Uloom Haqqani Akora Khattak in Nowshera district.
Talking with Business Recorder, defence analyst Lt Gen Talat Masood (Retd) identified Afghanistan as the major root cause of terrorism in the region, pointing to the presence of several militant groups operating from Afghan soil.
He asserted that the Afghan Taliban have been key supporters of these outfits and suggested that the Afghan Interim Government is using the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as leverage to put pressure on Pakistan. He further stated that Afghanistan has, in effect, been acting as a proxy against Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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