Attacks across Pakistan increased by 34% in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to a new report by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS).
The report recorded 699 attacks nationwide during the year, with more than 95% concentrated in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan.
At least 1,034 people were killed and 1,366 others wounded in these incidents, PIPS said. It added that terrorism-related casualties rose by 21% year-on-year.
Security personnel and police accounted for more than 42% of all terrorism-related casualties, with 437 members of the security forces killed. Civilians were also heavily affected, with 354 deaths reported.
The report said 243 militants were killed either while carrying out suicide attacks or during retaliatory operations by security forces following militant assaults.
According to PIPS, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa experienced the sharpest rise in violence, with attacks increasing by 40%. The province recorded 413 attacks in 2025, the highest number in the country. Analysts attribute the surge to the entrenched presence of groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates.
Pakistani authorities say attacks have intensified since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Pakistani militant groups of operating from Afghan territory and launching attacks inside Pakistan.
The government has called on the Taliban to take action against groups such as the TTP, but Taliban officials have denied the presence of Pakistani militants in Afghanistan.
