ATLANTA (Pajhwok): Terrorist attacks in Pakistan have surged by a record 51 percent in a single year after the fall of the Ashraf Ghani administration in Afghanistan.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as a result of the chaotic withdrawal of the US military from the neighbouring country.
Data from the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) show 433 people were killed and 719 injured in 250 attacks in Pakistan between August 15, 2021 and August 14, 2022.
From August 2020 to August 14, 2021, the country had witnessed 165 attacks that killed 294 people and injured 598 others, according to the Islamabad-based think-tank.
In recent months, a new wave of fear and panic has been seen among residents of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over the return of Pakistani Taliban from Afghanistan.
Mammoth protest demonstrations have been staged in different parts of picturesque Swat valley by civil society activists, ordinary people, traders and political figures.
They have cowed to do all they could to stop the militants from staging a comeback and asked the Pakistani government to take decisive action against TTP fighters.
Commenting on the PIPS report, ex-senator Afrasiab Khattak called Pakistani and Afghan Taliban two sides of the same coin.
Khattak claimed conspiracies were being hatched to once again hand over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas to the Pakistani Taliban.
He described Pakistan as a Taliban-producing factory. Pakistani generals were using insurgents against pro-peace groups and individuals, the ex-lawmaker added.
Kabul and Islamabad have not yet commented on the report, which says Pakistan is in for a rude shock because of the evolving security situation.
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