Press Release
Islamabad, April 14, 2021: Pakistan lost 196 persons in this first quarter of 2021, and another 42 were wounded. The erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) (now merged into Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) province) recorded the highest number of fatalities (67), followed by Balochistan (48), KP (35), Sindh (26), Punjab (18), and Islamabad (2). More than 70% of all fatalities were reported from KP (including ex. FATA), and Balochistan. Despite a significant progress in reducing the number of fatalities from violence over the last 6 years, violence related casualties seem concentrated in these two regions. These were some of the significant findings of the Quarter Security Report, Q1, 2021, by the Center for Research and Security Studies.
A marginal uptick in the number of fatalities was recorded during this quarter when compared with the last quarter’s figures. Former FATA was the only region where there was a sharp upsurge in violence. From a dip of 22% observed in January, the number of fatalities went up during the next two months. The highest surge was recorded in February that offset the gain that was observed in January.
North and South Waziristan districts of KP (formerly FATA) experienced the highest number of fatalities during Q1, 2021 followed by Karachi, Peshawar, Machh, and Sibbi with double digit fatalities.
Like the previous quarter, gun violence was a major cause of fatalities in this quarter as well. Intelligence based ground operations also continued to contribute to fatalities while other forms of violence like bomb explosions, armed attacks, and dumping of dead bodies after abduction (many missing for months) were also reported. Encounters between the security personnel and outlaws caused the demise of 12 people and 4 encounters. A surge in finding of dead bodies was also noticed during Q1, 2021.
Civilians again accounted for the largest number of fatalities this quarter (84). Militants, criminals, and insurgents also witnessed a marginal drop in their fatalities while the security personnel’s fatalities went up by 4%.
Fourteen persons lost their lives and three were injured in terror attacks that were motivated by sectarian hatred. Balochistan had the highest number of fatalities (11) from this crime while some incidents were also reported from Sindh, KP, and Punjab.
Other than the incidents of sectarian violence that were carried out by the outlaws, there was a sudden surge in religious-based violence in the country in Q1, 2021 that were committed by common people.
