ISLAMABAD: In an alarming development, Pakistan’s security forces lost at least 386 personnel, including 137 army soldiers, in the first nine months of the ongoing year, marking an eight-year high as the country continues to battle militant violence, an Islamabad-based think tank said in its latest security report.
Pakistan witnessed a surge in extremist attacks, particularly in its two western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, following the 2021 Taliban return to power in Kabul. The recent spike in violence also owed to the breakdown of a fragile truce between the government and the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant conglomerate in November of last year.
Subsequently, there has been a trend of brutal attacks against religious congregations in the country, with more than 60 people losing their lives in two separate bombing incidents at a mosque and a gathering to mark the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) birth anniversary on Friday.
“Pakistan’s security forces lost at least 386 personnel, 36 percent of all fatalities – including 137 army and 208 police personnel – in the first 9 months of 2023, marking an eight-year high as the country continues to battle proxy terrorism, largely in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said in its report released on Saturday.
“With 1087 violence-related fatalities recorded so far during the year, the outlaws suffered 368 (34 percent), followed by civilians with 333 (31 percent) fatalities,” it added.
The CRSS maintained there had been a consistent and alarming increase in violence in the two Pakistani western provinces over the past five years.
Experts attribute the recent increase in militant violence and security forces casualties in Pakistan to the change of government in neighboring Afghanistan, saying it emboldened militant groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and fueled separatist violence in Balochistan.
“One of the main reasons for the rise in terrorist incidents in Pakistan is that Afghanistan has, unfortunately, failed to meet its international security commitments, particularly toward Pakistan, by not denying space to BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army], BLF [Balochistan Liberation Front], TTP and Daesh,” Syed Muhammad Ali, strategic defense and security director, at the Center for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS), told Arab News.
He said another factor was the reaction from militant groups to the new and comprehensive counterterrorism strategy implemented by Pakistan’s military leadership amid mounting attacks this year.
An Afghan affairs expert, Rustam Shah Mohmand, who also served as Pakistani envoy to Kabul, said the recent escalation in the attacks was a “last-ditch effort” to gain influence by TTP and Daesh, adding that both these groups were losing control in the neighboring state.
“There are two forces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan: TTP and Daesh,” he explained. “They are both causing much damage as they can since they will have to leave Afghanistan sooner or later.”
Mohmand pointed out the dynamics in Balochistan were different since certain elements were not happy about the fact that the security establishment was in charge of all the business over there.
He said the Afghan Taliban were well aware of these developments, though they lacked capacity to deal with all the militant factions.
“The Taliban have control over the whole of Afghanistan, but they rely on untrained volunteers, who are prone to making mistakes, in the absence of an organized army and police force,” he added.
Mohmand said Pakistan should take coordinated action against these militant groups in collaboration with the Taliban administration in Kabul.
“Pakistan should work with the Afghan Taliban and form a committee in each province to conduct surveillance and ensure coordination and intelligence sharing,” he continued, adding the administration in Islamabad was not doing that and was making the Taliban angry by blaming and pressurizing them.
Security force casualties in Pakistan hit eight-year high in battle against militancy since January — report
https://arab.news/n9cf4
Security force casualties in Pakistan hit eight-year high in battle against militancy since January — report
- Local think tank records 1,087 violence-related fatalities during the year, including deaths of 386 soldiers
- Experts attribute the rise in militancy in Pakistan to the Afghan Taliban failure to control various armed factions
Rotary grant backs WHO effort to vaccinate 27 million Pakistani children against polio
- Funding targets high-risk districts as Pakistan remains one of two countries with endemic virus
- Officials warn that persistent transmission in Pakistan’s high-risk areas continues to pose global threat
ISLAMABAD: Rotary International has provided a $9.9 million grant to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan to support the vaccination of 27 million children against polio in high-risk districts, WHO said on Wednesday, reinforcing nationwide eradication efforts in one of the last two countries where the disease remains endemic.
The funding will support WHO’s operational role within the Pakistan-led Polio Eradication Initiative, which conducts multiple door-to-door and subnational immunization campaigns each year, reaching more than 45 million children across the country.
Polio eradication remains a critical public-health priority for Pakistan, which, along with Afghanistan, is among the only two countries worldwide where wild poliovirus type 1 continues to circulate. While Pakistan has made substantial progress over the past three decades, health officials warn that persistent transmission in high-risk areas continues to pose a global threat.
Since the launch of Pakistan’s eradication program in the mid-1990s, polio cases have fallen by 99.8 percent, from about 20,000 cases in 1994 to 31 cases reported in 2025, according to official data. Globally, cases have declined by 99.9 percent since 1988 under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
“Rotary’s support is the best example of how a partnership can protect millions of lives. WHO extends its deepest appreciation to Rotary for its continuing support as a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Rotary’s long-standing commitment is crucial in our journey toward a polio-free world,” Dr. Luo Dapeng, WHO representative in Pakistan, said in a statement.
The grant to WHO Pakistan forms part of a broader $14.9 million contribution by Rotary toward polio eradication efforts in the country. The funding will support immunization campaigns in high-risk districts of Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, covering operational costs such as frontline health worker incentives, training, transportation, vaccine carriers and campaign logistics.
To date, Rotary has contributed $3 billion globally toward polio eradication, including nearly $500 million in Pakistan, alongside advocacy efforts and volunteer support. Health authorities say the latest funding will help sustain momentum as Pakistan works to interrupt final chains of transmission.
Rotary is a founding partner of the GPEI, a public-private alliance led by national governments and supported by WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Health officials say sustained financing and political commitment remain essential as global travel and migration continue to expose polio-free countries to potential re-importation.
“Science indicates that ending polio in Pakistan and worldwide is within reach if we sustain the ongoing partnership and eradication efforts,” Dr. Luo said.
“However, the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 in Germany last November is a strong reminder that the cost of inaction would be far greater than the cost of action, since no country and no child will be safe until the virus is fully eradicated everywhere.”
