PESHAWAR: The growing incidents of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa not only affected the routine lives of the people but also eroded public trust in the federal and provincial governments for its counter-terrorism strategy.
In an interview with different people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most of the people of the province attribute the growing incidents of terrorism to the PML-N-led federal government, while some people also hold the negligence of Ali Amin Gandapur, who is not serious about taking action against the responsible administrative officers and police.
Talking to Pakhtun Digital, Asad Khan resident of Peshawar, said that as compared to this government, peace was relatively better in the PTI government and if one looks at the period between 2018 and 2022, a smaller number of terrorism incidents were recorded compared to 2023,2024 and 2025. He said that due to lack of peace and jobs, people are leaving the country, and talented youth are being drained to foreign countries, where they are doing hard jobs for others.
He said that people have lost trust in the Federal and provincial governments as they are not serious about protecting the lives of the people. On the other hand, there are strict visa process before leaving the country as various offices are heavily charging them in head of medical and other visa requirements.
Faqir Khan another resident from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peshawar told Pakhtun Digital that now they are not worried about jobs but they are worries about their lives. He said that provincial and federal ministers enjoying their protocol while the people have been left on the mercy of terrorists.
Nasir Khan resident of Bajaur, said that if this trend of target killing and terrorism continues, the entire society will collapse for lacking trust in their security institutions, and people will take the law into their own hands. He said that now the people have been pushed to the walls and there is no option available except to protect their families on itself.
He said that the number of terrorist activities recorded in 2024 and 2025 was great in numbers, even worse than 2009, which caused a huge migration of 3.5 million people from the Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The data collected by Pakhtun Digital the total terrorism incidents increased from 472 in 2023 to 702 in 2024, the highest since 2009, as there were 1,432 such incidents. The number of major incidents each involving three or more fatalities increased from 84 in 2023 to 140 in 2024, the highest since 2009, when there were 341 incidents; the resultant deaths in such attacks also increased from 586 in 2023 to 891 in 2024.
Among the areas, the most violent district in 2024 was North Waziristan, with 271 fatalities, followed by South Waziristan, 163 fatalities, Khyber, 137 fatalities and Kurram, 126 fatalities.
It is important to mention that 2025 was worse than 2024, and up till now, 52 incidents of terrorism have been reported in the first six months of this year. This year witnessed several tragic incidents like the death of Mufti Muner Shakir, a prominent religious scholar and Maulana Khanzeb of Bajaur and other prominent figures in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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