Terrorism: A new era of threat

We reiterate the word terrorism and speak about it ad nauseam, yet many of us are not au fait with this term. What terrorism is? Simply put, when a political group chooses violence as a means of change, it falls under terrorism. Since the outset of the 21st century, Pakistan has been facing a spate of terrorism.

From 2000 to 2024, Pakistan has tragically lost over sixty-eight thousand lives and has faced a financial loss exceeding Rs35 trillion. The nation has undertaken 12 significant anti-terrorism operations to combat this menace.

 

(1) Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–2002)

(2) Operation Al-Mizan (2002-2006)

(3) Operation Rah-e-Haq (2007)

(4) Operation Sher-e-Dil (2008)

(5) Operation Zalzala (2008-2009)

(6) Operation Sirat-e-Mustaqeem (2008)

(7) Operation Rah-e-Rast (2009)

(8) Operation Rah-e-Nijaat (2009)

(9) Operation Koh-e-Sufaid (2011)

(10) Operation Zarb-e-Azb (2014)

(11) Operation Rad-ul-Fasad (2017)

(12) Operation Azm-e-Istehkam (2024)

 

Pakistan has succeeded in pushing terrorism back following two successful operations, namely Rad-ul-Fasad and Azm-e-Istehkam. However, since 2021, there has been a noticeable surge in terrorism in Pakistan, which is increasing day by day. According to the report by the Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) 2024, terrorist attacks rose by 70% from the previous year, amounting to 521 incidents, up from 306. These incidents of terrorism are undermining the internal and external security of Pakistan by targeting its citizens and infrastructure.

 

According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025, Pakistan is the second most terrorism-affected country despite having the twelfth most powerful military in the world which is very concerning because Pakistan is fighting terrorism from two decades and conducted 12 major operations but the security condition of Pakistan is worse than Vietnam- which faced internal conflicts plus external intervention moreover, still facing geopolitical tensions from China, but despite of this has comparatively stronger security state- and Rwanda- which faced genocide in 1994, extreme internal violence and regional security challenges. We need to understand the objectives of terrorism to get the better picture.

The objectives of terrorism are many, but the prominent ones are to threaten people, manifest that the state is incompetent, pressure the state to come to terms, and keep the state occupied in counter-terrorism activities that deplete the government’s fiscal space. Terrorism has three major types.

Revolutionary terrorism is when a reformist group tries to overthrow the government violently. Separatist includes a group of people who spread violence to separate territory from the state. Religious terrorism is when a group of people try to impose their religious ideology using violence. Pakistan is facing both separatist and religious terrorism which is negatively affecting the country.

Terrorism affects society adversely as it results in casualties of both civilian and security personnel- Pakistan has lost more than 68 thousand lives, and creates uncertainty, which involves the decision of both public and private investment; according to a research paper, a one per cent increase in terrorism reduces foreign direct investment by 0.104%, domestic investment by 0.039%, and economic development by 0.002%. And lastly, it leaves psychological effects that traumatise people, such as anxiety, trauma, and stress – according to an article every second individual residing in Pakistan suffers from psychotic disorders and tension due to terrorism.

A country may face external or internal terrorism or both. Contemporarily, Pakistan is facing both external and internal terrorism.

Externally, countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has contributed $7 billion annually which instigates the proxies of religious terrorism, while India has provided $22 billion to terrorist groups till 2020- which was quoted by Shah Mehmood Qureshi in 2020- financing terrorism to force Pakistan to accept the dominance of India in the region and to hit the CPEC to curtail the economic development of Pakistan. Iran, leader of Shia Muslims also provides funds to its proxies which stir up sectarian violence.

Internally, separatists and religious groups are targeting civilians and security forces to pressure the state to comply with their demands. Tehreek-i-Taliban alone responsible for 558 deaths in 2024 and BLA and BLF conducted 504 attacks in 2024 which took 388 lives. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, Lashkar-e-Islam are responsible for religious terrorism while Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are pioneer of separatist terrorism.

The question of why terrorism? is underlying in the elements that instigate terrorist activities which are regional disparities in which political actors have a basic role, fewer opportunities for economic participation, and a lack of education and infrastructure.

To curb the issue, the state needs to chock the financial network of the terrorist groups because if they do not get the money they will no longer be able to run their activities, curb the illegal spectrum as without bursting the network the foundations cannot be eliminated, enhance the capacity of CTDs to better counter the terrorist activities, reconciliation of people to gain local support against terrorism, regulate and register madrassas as they are the major source of funding and manpower providers , and reform the criminal justice system to provide justice to establish the institutional believe in the people.