Islamabad: Despite record militant fatalities, Pakistan witnessed a significant increase in terrorism during 2025, with terrorist attacks rising by 34 percent year-on-year and terrorism-related deaths increasing by 21 percent. A total of 699 terrorist attacks were reported nationwide during the year.
The violence resulted in at least 1,034 deaths and 1,366 injuries, reflecting a continuing upward trend that has persisted since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
These findings were revealed in the Pakistan Security Report 2025 issued by the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies.
According to the report, border tensions, the return of militants, and shifting strategies from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Balochistan have further expanded and complicated the country’s security challenges.
More than 42 percent of the total fatalities were personnel from security and law enforcement agencies, with 437 officers losing their lives, indicating intense frontline fighting and the sustained targeting of the army, police, and paramilitary forces. In addition, 354 civilians were also killed.
The report stated that 243 militants were killed either in suicide attacks or during counterterrorism operations by security forces. The violence remained largely regional in nature, with more than 95 percent of attacks occurring in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, incidents increased by 40 percent, where the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and allied groups maintained a strong presence. The province recorded 413 terrorist attacks, resulting in 581 deaths and 698 injuries.
According to the report, coordinated attacks across 11 districts on August 14 posed a serious challenge to the writ of the state.
Balochistan witnessed 254 attacks during 2025, leaving 419 people dead and 607 injured. With a 26 percent increase in attacks, militant groups moved beyond hit-and-run tactics to organized operations such as highway blockades, sieges, and kidnappings, aimed at disrupting governance by targeting economic structures and symbols of the state.
In Sindh, 21 terrorist attacks were reported, including 16 incidents in Karachi, resulting in 14 deaths and 17 injuries.
Punjab recorded seven attacks, fewer than the previous year, leaving five people dead and two police officers injured. In Islamabad, a suicide bombing outside a judicial complex killed 12 people.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, three attacks were reported, in which three security personnel were killed and six injured.
