Pakistan: 3879 lost lives during war on terror in 2012

According to Islamabad based Conflict Monitoring Center’s annual report, one third of those killed in anti-state violence were civilians while the security forces lost 589 personnel during the year. The report says that the militants, including TTP, Al-Qaeda and Bloch rebels carried out 1485 attacks during 2012 while the security forces conducted 570 operations against the militants in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunekhwa. The report says that security situation in federal capital Islamabad improved but deteriorated along Pak-Afghan border where Pakistan has faced hostilities from Afghan National Army and NATO forces. Two third of the militant attacks took place in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunekhwa. The report says that 1114 civilians were killed and 2313 injured during militant attacks while 197 civilians lost their lives and 340 were wounded during actions initiated by the security forces. Pakistani security forces also apprehended 1138 militants while the militants kidnapped 185 people. Highest number of kidnapping incidents (72) took place in Baluchistan followed by FATA and KPK where militants kidnapped 61 and 51 people respectively. Pakistani military lost 350 of its personnel in FATA and KPK alone while 1165 were also wounded. Pro government peace Lashkars also lost 148 lives during the year. The deteriorating security situation in Khyber Pakhtunekhwa and FATA can be determined from the fact that 67 percent of the militant attacks took place in these two areas. Especially KPK province witnessed extra ordinary escalation in number of militant attacks during the year. Conflict Monitoring Center’s data shows that in 2011, the militants had carried out 246 attacks in KPK while in 2012 the number of attacks crossed figure of 400. Sindh province also witnessed unprecedented escalation in militant attacks as 21 such incidents were recorded by the CMC in 2011 while in 2012 it recorded 34 militant strikes. Number of TTP attacks in Punjab remained same as in 2011 however, security forces lost more lives than 2011. Security situation in federal capital Islamabad has improved considerably during 2012. During 2011, the militant had carried out four attacks in Islamabad while in 2012 only one attack was recorded. The security forces conducted five successful operations against the militants in Islamabad and arrested at least 55 suspects during the year. Conflict Monitoring Center’s data also shows that Pakistani security forces have stepped up their operations against anti-state militants. The number of security forces actions against militants was two times greater than it was in 2011. In 2011, the security forces conducted 263 actions against the militants while in 2012 they carried out 570 operations. Escalation in number of security forces actions from 2011 to 2012 is as follow; Baluchistan from 18 to 89, FATA 149 to 238, KPK 73 to 198, Punjab 3 to 22, and Sindh 10 in 2011 to 17 in 2012. The Conflict Monitoring Center also recorded 745 cross border attacks from Afghanistan which includes 371 attacks by Afghan national Army and NATO while rest of them were carried out by TTP and Al-Qaeda militants hiding in safe havens inside Afghanistan. Conflict Monitoring Center’s report shows that situation along Pak-Afghan border remained tense during the year. The worsening security situation in Khyber Pakhtunekhwa and FATA is a result of implicit support for anti-Pakistan militants provided by the forces active across the border, which include Afghan National Army as well as NATO. Conflict Monitoring Center’s data shows that during 2012, NATO and US warplanes and helicopters violated Pakistani air space and also bombed in some cases, for 53 times. The airspace violation took place six times in January, four times in February, eight times in March, four times in April, nine times in May, six times in June, one time in July, three times in August, five times in September, six times in October and one time in November. All but one of these violations took place along FATA border while one violation took place in Baluchistan. The year 2012 also witnessed unprecedented increase in cross border rocket and mortar attacks by Afghan National Army. The Conflict Monitoring Center recorded 305 such attacks during the year 2012, which shows the level of hostility by Afghan National Army towards Pakistan. Month-wise details of these attacks are as under; 9 in January, 9 in February, 12 in March, 17 in April, 33 in May, 32 in June, 46 in July, 28 in August, 21 in September, 30 in October, 55 in November and 7 in December. The cross border attacks did not remained limited to airspace violation or shelling from across the border. Forces active across the border crossed into Pakistani territory a dozen times during the year. Anti-Pakistan militants enjoying silent support across the border have carried out 376 cross border attacks during the year 2012. The Conflict Monitoring Center recorded 19 attacks in January, 10 in February, 15 in March, 46 in April, 58 in May, 62 in June, 41 in July, 30 in August, 18 in September, 40 in October, 25 in November and 12 in December.