ConflictBarometer_2016

ASIA AND OCEANIA
ter Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti's convoy on January 22 in Dera
Bugti district, which injured at least three security personnel.
Throughout the year, Baloch leaders like Akhtar Mengal of
Balochistan National Party (BNP) protested the on-going construction
of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for
allegedly exploiting the Baloch province and people. CPEC
was inaugurated on November 13 and links Gwadar port in
Balochistan with Kashgar in China through a network of highways,
railways and pipelines. On November 26, two security
guards of an oil and gas exploration company linked to CPEC
were killed in Gwadar. Both the Baloch National Front (BNF)
and the BLA claimed responsibility for the attack.
On March 24, security forces reportedly arrested an Indian affiliated
with India's intelligence agency in Balochistan who
was allegedly linked to the separatist movement, and tensions
between Pakistan and India rose [→ Pakistan–India].
Furthermore, after remarks by Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on August 12 and 15 in which he accused Pakistan of
human rights abuses in Balochistan and thanked the Baloch
people for allegedly supporting him, on August 18 treason
charges were brought against three Baloch leaders who had
thanked Modi for raising the Balochistan issue.
The government reportedly considered ending the ''Pur-aman
Balochistan” program implemented in 2015, which aims to
reintegrate Baloch militants into the Pakistani society, following
the separatist movement's reaction to Modi's remarks.
However, at least 280 militants reportedly surrendered their
weapons throughout the year. eko
PAKISTAN (ISLAMIST MILITANT GROUPS)
Intensity: 5 | Change: | Start: 2001
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
TTP, LeJ, AQIS vs. government
system/ideology, national power
The war over national power and the orientation of the political
system between various Islamist groups, most prominently
the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP), its splinter group Jamaat-ul-
Ahrar (JuA), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), al-Qaeda on the Indian
Subcontinent (AQIS), and affiliates of the so-called Islamic
State (IS), on the one hand, and the government, supported
by the USA, on the other, continued unabatedly for the tenth
consecutive year. In total, at least 879 people were killed and
at least 696 injured.
On February 10, the Intelligence Bureau warned about IS
gaining influence among members of other militant groups,
demanding better control mechanisms along the Afghan border
[→ Afghanistan –Pakistan]. On June 20, National Adviser
to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz called Afghan
refugee camps safe havens for terrorists. Consequently, nine
days later, Pakistan turned down UNHCR's request to extend
the stay of the almost 1.6 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan
by another three years.
The counter-terrorism campaign ''Zarb-e-Azb” launched in
2014 continued in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA), entering its last phase in February. Until mid-March,
airstrikes were conducted almost on a weekly basis, killing
a total of at least 118 alleged militants. By April 19, the operation
was preliminarily completed with only combat and
search operations continuing in FATA as well as the provinces
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh, and Punjab. Airstrikes resumed
in August until October and again from November
onwards in Khyber Agency, FATA, killing 36 militants and
destroying at least 18 hideouts. US-operated drone strikes
killed 32 militants in both Pakistan and Afghanistan with the
last strike on Pakistani territory in May in Balochistan province
intensifying inter-state tensions [→ USA – Pakistan].
In at least 39 cases, militants attacked police forces and army
personnel with IEDs or bombs and at least another eleven
employed suicide vests. At least seven cross-border firings
from Afghan territory targeted Pakistani security forces in
FATA, however, only one attack on September 23 was explicitly
claimed by a militant group, namely JuA. Throughout the
year, attacks on polio vaccination teams continued. Seven
workers and seven guards were shot dead in six attacks. Educational
institutions were targeted at least five times. For
example, on November 25, JuA destroyed a governmental
primary school in Mohmand Agency, FATA, with an explosion.
In FATA,atotal of over 320 people died, of whom at least 154
were militants killed in airstrikes. For example, in January
three airstrikes in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and Khyber
Agency killed 64 militants and also destroyed five hideouts
and explosive-laden vehicles. On the other hand, TTP and
JuA militants launched numerous IED attacks throughout the
year. On January 19, a TTP suicide bombing near amilitary
checkpoint killed twelve people and injured 39 in Kharkano,
Khyber Agency. JuA claimed responsibility for three IED attacks
in Mohmand Agency on March 1, April 24, and September
4, leaving five security forces dead.
In Balochistan, at least 172 people were killed with security
forces and civilians accounting for the majority offatalities.
However, there were far less attacks directly attributable to
militant groups than in other provinces [→ Pakistan (Baloch
156
nationalists / Balochistan)]. On January 13, a TTP suicide
bomber killed at least 15 people, among them 14 security
personnel, while injuring 25 in the provincial capital Quetta.
In the night of October 24, militants killed 61 security forces
and injured 164 in an attack onapolice training college near
Quetta, using suicide vests and guns. Both aTTP faction and
IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
In Punjab, at least 23 clashes between militants and security
forces caused the majority of the overall 134 deaths. For
example, on January 22, police killed three AQIS militants in
Layyah district inafire exchange, as well as seven TTP and LeJ
militants in Sheikhpura district on February 17. Furthermore,
four combat operations by the Counter Terrorism Department
(CTD) in April and May left 24 TTP and AQIS militants dead.
On November 18, CTD forces killed an alleged IS militant in
an encounter in Rawalpindi.
In KP, at least 128 people were killed in targeted attacks,
bomb blasts, or clashes between security forces and militants.
For example, on March 7, a JuA suicide bomber killed
at least 17 people and injured 23 others in an attack on a
court complex in Charsadda district. Eight days later, a bomb