March 2023 witnessed 36 percent decline in militant attacks as compared with February 2023: PICSS

ISLAMABAD, April 02 (SABAH): A significant decline in militant attacks was observed during March 2023; however, resultant casualties remained almost the same as in February 2023. The security forces foiled many attacks during the month by eliminating at least 38 militants while arresting 35 others.

According to statistics released by an Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), March 2023 witnessed 36 percent decline in militant attacks as compared with February 2023. The think tank reported 37 militant attacks during March, in which 57 people were killed and 72 injured. February had witnessed 58 attacks, in which 59 people were killed and 134 wounded.

PICSS also recorded a decline in suicide attacks in March, as only one such attack was reported, while February witnessed three suicide bombings.
There was a fifty percent decline in the number of militant attacks in Balochistan, but resultant deaths slightly increased. The militants carried out 11 militant attacks in March, in which 28 people were killed and 35 injured. The lone suicide attack in March was also reported from the Bolan area of Balochistan, where ten people were killed. The attack was claimed by DAESH and a new group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan separately. 

The most significant improvement in the security situation was observed in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Six militant attacks were recorded in March against 16 in February, while the deaths declined from 16 to five. However, the most high-profile attack also occurred in the former FATA region, where ISI sector commander Brigadier Mustafa Kamal Barki was killed in South Waziristan.

Mainland KP witnessed a rise in militant attacks and resultant deaths during March 2023. The militants carried out 16 attacks in the province in which 21 people died while 30 were injured. In February, the province had witnessed 13 attacks in which six people were killed and eight were wounded.

No militant attack was reported from Punjab, while four attacks were reported from Sindh, where three people were killed. In February, ten people were killed and 18 injured in three reported militant attacks in Sindh. During March, no violent militant activity was reported from Punjab, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistani security forces foiled many attacks during the month. The most significant action was taken in the border town of Chaman, where on March 6, Pakistani security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Chaman and recovered arms and ammunition dumped in a compound. These included 10 suicide vests, 15 anti-tank mines, readymade IEDs, 10 detonators, 64 circuits, 140 anti-personnel landmines, seven mortar shells, 105 fuses, 230 electric detonators, and 18 remotes. In another IBO, the security forces gunned down a facilitator of the February 11 suicide bombing against Mari Petroleum in North Waziristan. The main focus of the security forces was on conducting intelligence-based operations. At least 25 such operations were reported in which 38 suspected militants were killed and 35 others were arrested.