New Delhi: In recent months, Pakistan has been grappling with a surge in militant activities, especially from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group and others in its provinces bordering Afghanistan. Last Thursday, 16 civilian employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) were abducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
While eight hostages have since been recovered by Pakistani authorities, including three critically injured individuals transferred to a local hospital, another eight employees from the PAEC and the private bus driver remain in captivity, according to news reports.
The incident took place when the bus carrying the 16 PAEC workers was en route to the uranium mine at Qabul Khel. According to the first information report (FIR) filed in Pakistan and reported by local media, “unknown miscreants” took the workers and bus driver hostage before setting the bus ablaze.
The capture of 16 PAEC employees triggered immediate efforts by Pakistani authorities to secure their release. Officials claimed to have rescued eight employees. However, the TTP denied these claims, asserting instead that the eight workers were released on humanitarian grounds.
The abduction occurred on the Dara Tang road in Lakki Marwat. In August, militants abducted three workers from the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited near Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In November 2024, seven police officers were abducted from the same city, highlighting the increasing frequency of militant groups targeting government officials for kidnappings.
Militant attacks across Pakistan have surged since the TTP broke a truce with the government in 2022 and resumed targeting government forces nationwide. Last week, two policemen were killed by terrorists, following which security forces killed one militant.
The escalating violence has led Islamabad to direct its ire at Afghanistan in recent weeks. In December, Pakistan launched airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan, reportedly killing at least 46 people, including women and children, according to the Taliban regime in Kabul.
India condemned the strikes, saying it is an “old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures”.
Days later, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri met with the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai, promising New Delhi’s humanitarian support in the country’s health sector and rehabilitation of refugees.
Misri’s meeting with Muttaqi—the first by a senior Indian official with the Taliban—also saw India promise to consider engaging in development projects with the country. Although New Delhi does not officially recognise the Taliban regime, it has intensified engagement with Afghanistan over the past year.
The return of the Taliban to Kabul in 2021 was initially viewed as a success for Pakistan. However, nearly four years later, relations between the Taliban regime and Islamabad have deteriorated.
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The recent abductions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, particularly Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan, has become a stronghold for the TTP in recent years.
According to media reports, the TTP militants demanded the immediate release of captured or missing persons, a ban on demolishing militants’ houses, and an end to the desecration of militants’ bodies. They also demanded that the bodies of deceased militants be handed over to their families for burial. The Pakistani administration has yet to formally respond to these demands.
Over the weekend, a joint jirga (tribal council) comprising officials and tribal leaders urged authorities to consider the TTP’s demands to ensure the release of the remaining hostages.
The negotiation committee, led by Johar Muhammad Khan, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly (MPA), and Deputy Commissioner Zeeshan Ali, reportedly sought additional time to deliberate on the demands.
Negotiations continued into Monday without significant progress, according to local media reports.
In earlier incidents, such as the abduction of police officers in November, hostages were safely rescued within 48 hours through coordinated efforts by local authorities and tribal elders, Pakistani media reported.
Pakistan’s deadliest year in a decade
The year 2024 was Pakistan’s deadliest in a decade, with at least 685 civilian fatalities and roughly 444 terror attacks, according to an annual security report by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), a Pakistan-based think tank.
Security forces lost 1,612 personnel, while 934 militants were killed. Overall casualties increased by 66 percent compared to 2023, CRSS reported. On average, seven lives were lost daily in 2024, with November being the deadliest month.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan accounted for 94 percent of fatalities and 89 percent of all incidents across Pakistan, according to CRSS.
Militants also targeted Pakistani security forces’ installations and infrastructure projects, killing at least seven Chinese nationals in two incidents in March and October. In March, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers, killing five engineers and one driver. In October, an explosion near Karachi International Airport killed two Chinese engineers.
These attacks prompted China’s envoy to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong to publicly criticise Islamabad for its inability to safeguard Chinese nationals in the country.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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