Combined with a rise in violence since the beginning of 2021, Pakistan’s recent political chaos has made its residents fearful not only of terrorism but also of their future living conditions. Extremists have carried out several high-profile terrorist attacks, and as a result, residents now doubt the safety of their nation.

A militant organisation named Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has operated in Pakistan since its founding in 2007 and has carried out several terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombs and deliberate assassinations. Although it functions autonomously, TTP is an offshoot of the Afghan Taliban and shares a similar philosophy. Countries such as The United States and the United Kingdom have labelled the group as a terrorist organisation. Despite the Pakistani government taking action against the TTP with military operations, killing several of its leaders or taking them prisoner, the organisation has continued to attack targets in Pakistan.

The TTP ended its months-long cease-fire with Islamabad in late November, following more than a year of inconclusive peace talks. The ceasefire was an effort to end the violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The agreement had been negotiated over the course of several months. Since November 28, the militants have launched a wave of deadly attacks targeting Pakistani security personnel. The violence has strained Islamabad’s otherwise good ties with Kabul and prompted Pakistani authorities to repeatedly urge the Taliban administration to stop TTP militants from using Afghan soil to plot cross-border terrorist raids.

The TTP claimed the December 18 attack near the northwestern city of Bannu that killed four police officers and wounded four others. The TTP militants also ambushed a police patrol in the same area, killing six policemen. The TTP further claimed attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, where four people were killed and 26 wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a police truck on November 30. A total of 262 terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the year – including 14 suicide bombings –claimed in all 419 lives and injured another 734 people. The TTP claimed 59 attacks in November, the highest of any month since at least 2018. In the first half of December, the militants claimed 30 attacks. Many of them targeted members of the military, police force, and intelligence agencies and just this week took responsibility of killing of a senior intelligence official as well as another officer in Khanewal.

In comparison to 2021, there was a 25% rise in fatalities in the previous year. A total of 180 terrorist attacks—or roughly 69 percent—of the 262 terrorist attacks noted in 2022 targeted security and law enforcement people, vehicles, convoys, posts, or locations. The sharp rise in attacks has led to fears among Pakistanis that violence in the region will likely surge in the year ahead. Even before the cease-fire ended, hundreds of TTP fighters had returned to their former strongholds in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent months, carrying out targeted killings and extorting locals.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, in a television interview stated that the Pakistani military might launch cross-border strikes against TTP targets. His statement triggered a strong backlash from Afghan authorities and a resolve to defend against any such action. The TTP was driven out of its bases in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt by a major military offensive in 2014. Many of its leaders and fighters took refuge across the mountainous border in eastern Afghanistan, where they live under the protection of the Afghan Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban were founded in 1994 in an alliance with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama Bin Laden, both of whom were from Afghanistan. The TTP was founded by Pakistani militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and was banned by the government of Pakistan in 2008. The TTP has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Pakistani Armed Forces for control of territory within Pakistan, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The TTP’s goal is to overthrow the Pakistani government and establish a “pure” Islamic state governed by Sharia law.

The National Action Plan (NAP) of 2014 was a major initiative by the Government of Pakistan to combat terrorism and extremism in the country. NAP, meant to fight extremism collectively and terrorism, came in the wake of the brutal attack on a school in Peshawar by militants in December 2014. The NAP was supposed to be an effective tool for tackling terrorism-related activities such as the TTP. However, due to various shortcomings, it ultimately failed in its mission.

The National Security Committee (NSC) on 2nd January 2023 decided that no country will be allowed to provide sanctuaries and facilitation to terrorists. During the 40th meeting of the NSC held in Islamabad, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the forum resolved that Pakistan reserves all rights to safeguard its people. The NSC vowed to respond firmly to resurgent terrorism in the country and declared militants as “enemies of Pakistan”. The forum also reiterated its resolve to have zero tolerance for terrorism in Pakistan and reaffirmed its determination to take on any and all entities that resort to violence.

The Pakistani government needs to take more proactive steps to tackle this problem. This includes strengthening existing laws and regulations, increasing intelligence gathering, improving border security, and providing economic opportunities for those living in affected areas. Additionally, domestic and international actors must work together to find a lasting solution to this issue. Only through collective efforts can we hope to address this problem and reduce TTP attacks effectively.