ISLAMABAD: Pakistan saw a sharp rise in militant attacks and security operations in July, with at least 401 militants killed in the highest monthly toll recorded in more than a decade and 112 security personnel killed in the deadliest month since 2023, an Islamabad-based think tank said on Saturday.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) in the restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces.
Islamabad says Afghanistan provides safe havens to these militant groups and India finances them to carry out attacks in Pakistan, though both Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegations.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), there were at least eight suicide attacks in July, including five vehicle-borne attacks, the highest monthly tally in a decade.
“PICSS data showed that, compared with June, security forces’ deaths increased by 195 percent, rising from 38 to 112,” the report said.
“Militant deaths increased by 109 percent, from 192 to 401, while civilian deaths rose by 21 percent, from 61 to 74.”
The security situation deteriorated most significantly in Balochistan, where the overall death toll increased by 241 percent from 109 in June to 372 in July, it added.
The report said 238 militants and 62 security forces personnel were killed in Balochistan, while 108 militants and 38 security forces personnel were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 55 militants and 11 security forces personnel were killed in the tribal districts.
PICSS highlighted that only one security personnel was killed in southern Sindh in July, while Punjab, the country’s most populous province, along with Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan recorded no militant violence.
The report said 2,786 people were killed during the first seven months of this year including 1,857 militants, 463 civilians, 434 security forces personnel and 32 members of local peace committees, community groups formed in militancy-hit areas to support security efforts.
Pakistan has been grappling with militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the provinces bordering Afghanistan. The country has witnessed a rise in militant attacks in these provinces since the Afghan Taliban came to power in 2021.
