TERRORIST ATTACKS INTENSIFY IN PAKISTAN'S KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PROVINCE

According to the Monthly Analysis by the South Asia Counter Terrorism Portal (SATP), Pakistan was subjected to increased terrorist activity by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in November, which is typical for the whole of 2022.

On November 15, six police officers were killed when two terrorists on a motorbike opened fire on a police patrol near a fair in the Dadiwala police station area of ​​Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack. TTP spokesman Mohammad Khorasani said the police patrol was ambushed as it was on its way to conduct a raid in the area. Mohammad Khorasani added that the militants seized weapons from the killed police officers.

On 9 November, two police officers were killed and two others were injured when terrorists armed with rockets and grenades attacked the Zagzai police station at Barmal Tehsil (revenue department) of South Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to police, the terrorists set fire to a police car and took police weapons during the assault. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack. Mohammad Khorasani stated that their main target was army and urged the police to avoid clashes with TTP supporters.

On 30 October, a policeman and a civilian were killed and 4 policemen were injured in a terrorist attack on the Daraban police checkpoint in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the partial data collected by SATP, 63 police officers were killed and another 50 were injured in 49 terrorist attacks against police in 2022 (data for the period up to November 27).

During the corresponding period last year, 23 police officers were killed and 13 were injured in 21 terrorist attacks. In total, during 2021, 25 police officers were killed and 14 were injured in 24 incidents.

Since 6 March 2000, when SATP began collecting data on terrorism in Pakistan, at least 812 police officers have been killed and 989 injured in 651 attacks on police officers.

Attacks on police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2000-2022

As the data indicates, there has been a significant increase in attacks against police officers this year, with 2022 recording the highest number in a year (and more than a month before the year ends) since 2014, when 54 incidents were reported.

Also, in terms of the number of police officers killed in such attacks, 2022 is the highest since 2013, with 106 deaths, the highest in a year since 2007 and 2008, both of which recorded 207 deaths of policemen.

Although not all attacks were later claimed by the TTP, it is known that this group has a strong base in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and most of the attacks were carried out by them.

Indeed, on September 4, 2022, TTP “spokesman” Mohammad Khorasani claimed responsibility for three recent attacks on police: the killing of a police officer in Lakki Marwat on September 4, the attack on a police constable in Dera Ismail Khan on September 2, and the attack in Peshawar on August 10, which resulted in the death of one security officer and the injury of three others.

Meanwhile, according to a report released by the Central Police Directorate on November 19, 2022, 105 police officers were killed in 151 militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2022. A total of 109 police officers were injured in these attacks.

The report added that weapons left behind by NATO forces in Afghanistan were used against police, including thermal imaging devices that allowed terrorists to arrange surprise attacks under the cover of darkness.

“These attacks were carried out by militants released from prisons after the fall of Kabul last year,” the report said, adding that the militants' most frequent target was police mobile vehicles.

Quoting an unnamed senior security officer, the report notes that checkpoints in the tribal district, including Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Tank, and South and North Waziristan, are under serious security threat.

The TTP has resumed its activity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Afghan Taliban takeover in Kabul on August 15, 2021. Meanwhile, negotiations between the TTP and the government, mediated by the Afghan Taliban, which began on May 1, 2022, have almost failed.

Indeed, Aimal Wali Khan, president of the Awami National Party (ANP), which was in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the turbulent years 2008-2013, warned on 22 September 2021 that a new wave of terrorism was emerging and that it would sweep across the country if not controlled.

“Terrorists are regrouping in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said Aimal Wali Khan. He asked the government to contain the spread of extremism and terrorism and added that failure to take concrete steps would make it clear that the government or public institutions were complicit in the violence.

The Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf party is currently in power in the province. As the TTP was involved in the peace talks, other groups that were associated with the organization also came to the forefront, attacking police officers in the province. They mostly included supporters of the Ittehad Musallah Islami (IMAM). Some of the attacks on police officers reported by IMAM include:

- On 16 July 2022, militants killed a police officer near his residence in Lakki Machan Khel district of Lakki Marwat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

- On 22 July 2022, militants opened fire on a police van, injuring two people, including a police officer, in Khwar Bazaar in Akora Khattak district of Nowshera district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In addition to the TTP and its affiliated groups, the IS-K (Islamic State-Khorasan Province, banned in Russia) has become another threat to police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the takeover of the Taliban in Kabul.

Since then, IS-K has claimed responsibility for two attacks on police officers:

- On July 16, 2022, IS-K terrorists attacked and killed two people, including a police officer, at a checkpoint in the village of Arjali Nadi Bara in the Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

- On August 19, 2022, two police officers were killed in an explosion carried out by IS-K near a checkpoint in Bajaur district.

Not surprisingly, other parts of the security forces are also seeing an increase in casualties and attacks. According to the SATP database, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded at least 148 military (including police) deaths in 2022, the highest number in a year since 2013, when 181 military (including police) deaths were reported. The peak was recorded in 2009, when 494 people (including policemen) died.

The police, along with other security units deployed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are under increased threat from terrorists, in particular the TTP. With negotiations between the TPP and the Pakistani government approaching a formal failure, the number of such attacks will inevitably increase in the near future.