Pakistan Ranked The World’s No. 2 In Terror-Related Incidents – Analysis

Casualties are mounting as terror groups improve in sophistication and garner support upholding local grievances.

Pakistan was ranked second in the world in terms of terror-related incidents in 2025, according to a study done during the period January to September 2025.

Conducted by the Centre for Security, Strategy, and Policy Research (CSSPR) in Lahore, the study states that since 2021, there has been a steady rise in both the frequency and lethality of terrorist strikes in the country.  

In 2021, terrorist incidents increased to 275. By 2022, they had sharply risen, with 643 incidents causing 298 deaths. Pakistan ranked sixth in the Global Terrorism Index in 2022. The surge intensified in 2023, with incidents increasing to 689 and deaths reaching 490, elevating Pakistan's rank to the fourth position in the world.

2024 saw 1,099 incidents and 1,081 deaths. Pakistan ranked second worldwide. In 2025, 699 terrorist attacks claimed at least 1,034 lives and left 1,366 injured. The year also saw a record 1,313 militants being killed in military operations.

Increasing Use of Suicide Bombers

Terrorist incidents covered a variety of acts. Suicide attacks numbered 21, arson 85; drone attacks 11, ambushes 138; armed assaults 364; explosions 364; logistical disruptions 112; extortions 62; abductions 57; executions 24; and targeted killings 292.

On Friday February 6 this year, there was a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in the capital, Islamabad, which killed at least 31. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistani (TTP) or the Islamic State (IS) which has been blamed for previous attacks on Shia worshippers, a minority Muslim community.

The attack on the Shia mosque came a week after the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) carried out multiple attacks in Balochistan, killing about 50 people. Security forces, responding to those attacks, also killed more than 200 terrorists. 

The last deadliest terror attack in Islamabad was in 2008, when a suicide bomber targeted the Marriott Hotel in the capital, killing 63 and wounding over 250. In November 2025, a suicide bomber had struck outside a court in Islamabad, killing 12. 

In the first 9 months of 2025, Pakistan was hit by nearly 20 suicide attacks carried out by major terrorist groups, including the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the TTP, and Ittihadul Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP).

Among these, six attacks happened in Balochistan, while fourteen occurred in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK) bordering Afghanistan. The BLA carried out four major suicide bombings targeting Frontier Corps convoys in Turbat, Nushki, and Khuzdar, resulting in high casualties among security personnel and civilians. One of these suicide attacks was carried out by a female bomber, reflecting a shift in militant recruitment patterns. 

The TTP and its factions carried out multiple high-casualty attacks in North Waziristan, Tank, and Gulistan, often combining suicide bombings with direct gunfire to cause maximum destruction. The attack at Khaddi in North Waziristan remained one of the deadliest, killing 13 soldiers and 20 civilians.

Suicide Bombers Are Drugged

A shocking intelligence report during Operation Pehrud Cleanser said that terrorists affiliated with the BLA were being drugged with powerful narcotics before being sent on suicide missions. Security forces uncovered large amounts of injectable drugs, crystal meth, opium, and hashish from BLA hideouts in Balochistan. Officials stated that militants were routinely given these substances to induce a trance-like, fearless state, enabling handlers to exert control. 

This disturbing tactic underscores the group's increasing reliance on psychological manipulation and drug abuse as tools of radicalisation, revealing both their desperation and cruelty within their operational structure, the study said.

High Profile Attacks 

Significant incidents include synchronised BLA attacks in August 2024 that killed more than 74 people; the Bannu Cantonment strike in July that killed eight soldiers and injured over 140, and the deadly bombing at Quetta's railway station in November that claimed 32 innocent lives.

Terrorists had progressed from staging isolated attacks in the rural areas to coordinated, high-impact attacks in urban and sensitive locations.

According to the UNSC's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team's fourteenth report, around 6,000 active TTP members are operating in Pakistan's tribal belt. The group has also begun blocking areas for extortion and abductions.

In Balochistan, militants have staged several urban takeovers, such as the seizure of Surab City and Tump tehsil, where government offices and banks were attacked and set ablaze. Zehri has also faced multiple blockades this year, during which Baloch militants seized control of the city, burned a paramilitary station, and robbed a private bank

Militants Reorganize and Prepare to Rule

After the death of the TTP's leader Mullah Fazlullah in June 2018 in a drone strike in Afghanistan, Noor Wali Mehsud took control. Under Mehsud's leadership, internal discipline improved. He had inherited a coalition of 13 militant outfits which he increased to 42.  The group also aligned its objectives with the grievances of other ethno-nationalist movements beyond its Pakhtun base in KPK.

Security analyst Iftikhar Firdous, the TTP has set up seven "ministries", each responsible for a specific aspect of its operations. To maintain its control over the region, the TTP has also established eleven "Wiliayahs" (Provinces), each governed by an "Emir" whose council oversees finances and logistics. 

The restructuring indicates that the TTP aspires to govern the area like the Taliban rules in Afghanistan, Firdous says.

Bases in Afghanistan

After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the TTP's linkages with the Afghan Taliban have only grown stronger. According to the UNSC's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team's fourteenth report, the TTP enjoys considerable "freedom of manoeuvre" and support in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

The US had left behind a humongous quantity of sophisticated weapons when it left Afghanistan in 2020. According to the figures shared by the Pentagon, the US had provided the Afghan military with around 427,300 weapons and it had left behind around 300,000 of these weapons. This has resulted in the growth of a black market in US-made weapons at the Afghan-Pakistan border. 

Use of Modern Weapons

Terrorists are using advanced weapons and adopting new tactics to strike high-value targets. The TTP has been using quadcopters. It launched multiple drone attacks on the Bannu Police Station, causing four deaths and several injuries.

After the Jaffar Express hijacking, it was reported that an M4A1 carbine rifle built by American manufacturer Colt was recovered from the attack site. Militants have also used heavy weaponry, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers. For instance, in a series of attacks on police in Peshawar, the militants used RPG launchers.

In October 2024, an intelligence-based operation was conducted in Bajaur, to neutralise two suicide bombers. During this operation, a large amount of foreign arms, including AK-47s, AMD-65s, M4 rifles, ammunition, and explosives, were recovered.

The BLA has also been caught using such weapons. In a 2024 attack on the Turbat Naval Base, US-made M32 multi-shot grenade launchers and night thermal vision equipment were recovered.

Attacks on China-funded projects

Baloch groups have been targeting Chinese personnel working in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPEC) projects in Balochistan. There were attacks on China's Consulate in Karachi in 2018. A bus was bombed in Dasu in 2021. There was a suicide attack at Karachi University. A convoy was attacked in Bisham in 2024. In 2019, the BLA released a video sternly asking the Chinese to leave Balochistan. 

Importance of Addressing Local Grievances  

The Pakistan government keeps blaming Afghanistan and India for both TTP and BLA terrorism. But both countries deny involvement. The daily "Dawn" has asked Islamabad to get the UNSC to ban these terror groups so that drastic and comprehensive action could be taken. 

However, human rights activists both in Pakistan and abroad say that the root of the problem in Balochistan at least, is socio-economic discrimination by the powers-that-be in Islamabad and warn that unless these issues are addressed, terrorism will exist. Blaming outside elements for the unrest will be barking up the wrong tree and delusionary.