Papers

Killings in Karachi: down, but not out

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With the Rangers-led targeted operation aimed at restoring peace to Karachi entering its fourth year, there was marked improvement in the overall law and order situation in the city in the year 2016. However, even as fatalities from political violence and gang wars sharply declined in Karachi amid the ongoing operation, the city continued to … Read more

Bloodshed in Balochistan

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Contrary to the Balochistan government’s claims of restoration of peace and rooting out terrorist activities in the province, acts of terrorism continued to be reported throughout 2016. Although, in the wake of the National Action Plan (NAP), violence by separatist insurgents receded to some extent, attacks by banned sectarian and other militant extremist groups rose. … Read more

Bordering on blame game

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With several attacks along Pakistan’s western border with Afghanistan, security remained fragile in 2016.The most prominent attack was a suicide bomb during Friday prayers in a mosque in late September, killing 34 people. The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility, arguing the naïve notion that the slain people were part of the pro-government … Read more

Exodus of refugees is not durable

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2016 has been yet another year in recent times when security measures taken within the context of the National Action Plan (NAP) expedited the rate of voluntary returns to increase recently. This high rate is also owed to other non-state push factors on the Pakistan side and a number of pull factors on the Afghan … Read more