ConflictBarometer_2016

ASIA AND OCEANIA
planted in a bus carrying government employees killed 15
people and injured 25 in Peshawar. On April 12, TTP militants
shot the Deputy Superintendent of Police dead and injured
two police guards in Swat district. On July 21, security forces
killed three TTP militants in Upper Dir district during an encounter.
On its official website, IS claimed responsibility for
assassinating a security official in Peshawar on August 29 and
the Intelligence Sub-Inspector in Charsadda on October 24.
On September 2, a JuA suicide bomber killed 13 people and
injured 41, when he triggered the bomb at the entrance of
the District and Sessions Court in Mardan.
In Sindh, at least 85 people were killed throughout the year,
a majority of fatalities being militants. All encounters with
security forces took place in the provincial capital Karachi.
On March 5, police forces killed four AQIS and LeJ militants.
On April 6, CTD killed two IS militants in a fire exchange. iro
tear gas against PTI-supporters in Rawalpindi, Punjab state,
who were throwing stones and defied a ban on public gatherings.
On October 31, thousands of PTI-supporters tried
to destroy police barricades on the motorway between Peshawar
and Islamabad in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In response, police used tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring
dozens of PTI-supporters. On November 1, the Supreme
Court in Lahore, Punjab state, announced an investigation of
the corruption charges against Sharif. Consequently, Khan
and PTI canceled the ''lockdown” of Islamabad planned for
the following day. plo
PAKISTAN (SUNNI MILITANTS – RELIGIOUS
GROUPS)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1985
PAKISTAN (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1998
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
TTP vs. religious groups
subnational predominance
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
PAT, PTI vs. government
system/ideology, national power
The violent crisis over national power and the orientation of
the political system between the opposition parties Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT), on the
one hand, and the government, on the other hand, headed by
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), continued.
On February 10, legal authorities issued arrest warrants
against PAT-leader Tahir-ul-Qadri, PTI-leader Imran Khan and
other opposition leaders for not appearing to a court hearing
regarding their alleged unlawful assembly with deadly
weapons, referring to their 2014 protests in Islamabad
against the alleged fraud of the 2013 elections.
After a by-election for the National Assembly in the constituency
NA-101 Wazirabad, Punjab state, on March 22,
clashes erupted when PTI-supporters protested the alleged
rigging of the election. In the clashes between PTI-supporters
and police, as well as PML-N-workers, two PTI-supporters
were killed and nine people injured, including three police
officers. On April 7, after the leak of the so-called Panama Papers,
the opposition parties in the National Assembly accused
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family of tax evasion with
PTI-leader Khan threatening to organize protests if the government
would not investigate the accusations properly. In
June, PTI and PAT filed References of Disqualification against
Sharif over his alleged hidden assets, while PML-N reciprocated
against PTI-members over the same issue in August.
On October 6, PTI-leader Khan announced the ''lockdown” of
Islamabad for October 30, changing the date to November 2
later. On October 24, PAT announced their participation in the
protest. On October 27, police in Islamabad Capital Territory
used batons against PTI-protesters and arrested over 200.
The same day, police also arrested at least 38 PTI-supporters
in Islamabad at a youth convention. On October 28, police intervened
when supporters of PTI and PML-N clashed in Kohat,
Federally Administered Tribal Areas, during a protest against
a visit by Prime Minister Sharif. On the same day, police used
158
The violent crisis over subnational predominance between
Sunni militant organizations and various religious groups continued.
Most of the attacks were targeted drive-by shootings
against individuals belonging to religious minorities carried
out by gunmen on motorcycles. The affiliation of the attackers
could not always be verified. Overall, at least 149 people
were killed and at least 412 injured throughout the year.
Jamaat-ul-Ahraar (JuA), a sub-group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP), claimed responsibility for two attacks against
Christians. On March 27, a suicide bombing in the Gulshane-Iqbal
park in Lahore, Punjab province, killed at least 72
people, mostly Muslims, and injured more than 300. The JuA
stated that the attack was supposed to specifically target
Christians celebrating Easter in the park. On September 2,
four alleged members of JuA attacked a Christian colony in
Warsak Dam near Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In a subsequent clash with security forces, the attackers and
two other people were killed and five security personnel injured.
Two attacks targeted members of the Sufi community. On
June 22, two gunmen killed Amjad Sabri, a famous Sufi singer,
and injured another person in Karachi, Sindh province. A subgroup
of the TTP called Hakeemullah claimed responsibility
for the attack. On November 11, a suicide bombing in the Sufi
Shah Noorani shrine in Hub district, Balochistan province, for
which the IS claimed responsibility, killed 52 people and injured
at least 105 more.
Various attacks against members of the Shiite, Shiite Hazara,
and Ahmadi communities were reported. For instance,
on August 1, JuA gunmen on a motorcycle killed two men
belonging to the Shiite Hazara community in the provincial
capital Quetta, Balochistan. On October 5, militants stopped
a bus in Quetta and killed four Shiite Hazara women and injured
another, leaving the other passengers unharmed. Furthermore,
numerous attacks against members of religious
minorities took place, which were not claimed by specific
militant groups. sad, eko