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During the first nine months of 2026, Pakistan recorded 1,232 rebel group attacks, according to a report by Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, indicating that a major security crisis is brewing.
The number of attacks in Sept reached a 12-year high, with 225 attacks resulting in 545 deaths. Police and military personnel have been the primary targets of these operations, accounting for majority of fatalities.Spearheaded by groups such as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baloch Liberation Army, Baloch Liberation Front and alliances like Ittehad Mujahideen Pakistan, these attacks remain concentrated in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and former tribal areas.
Formed in 2025, IMP is the latest threat and comprises three sub-outfits — Hafiz Gul Bahadur group (HGBG), Lashkar-e-Islam and Harakat Inqilab-e-Islami Pakistan.Just last week, over a dozen security personnel were killed and at least 30 wounded in a suicide bombing at a roadside police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A week before that around 21 Pakistani security personnel were killed and dozens injured in a powerful suicide bombing and subsequent firing at the police line and intelligence facility in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The surge in Sept represents a 13% increase from 199 incidents reported in Aug, marking the third consecutive month of compounding violence.Balochistan served as the primary epicentre of the escalation, bearing the brunt of the violence with 131 recorded attacks, accounting for more than half of all nationwide incidents. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa followed with 58 attacks, while the former tribal areas recorded 34 incidents, the institute claimed. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have risen as Pakistan repeatedly accuses the ruling Afghan Taliban of providing safe havens and operational freedom to the TTP.
