Pakistan Violence Surges 46%: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bears 71% of Terrorism Casualties in 2025 Q3 Report

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has emerged as the most severely impacted region, accounting for approximately 71% of all fatalities linked to violence across Pakistan.

Islamabad is witnessing Pakistan's continued struggle with terrorism as violence has escalated by 46% during the third quarter of 2025, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province remaining the most severely affected region, according to a Thursday media report.

The News, citing statistics from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), reported that Pakistan documented at least 901 fatalities and 599 injuries among civilians, security personnel, and terrorists across 329 violent incidents, including terror attacks and counter-terrorism operations.

The increase in terrorist activities was highlighted by recent events: a suicide attack near Quetta's FC headquarters on Tuesday claimed 11 lives, including two FC personnel, while security forces eliminated 13 terrorists in two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) a day earlier.

The CRSS report reveals that by the third quarter (Q3) of this year, fatalities have nearly matched the entire 2024 toll, with 2,414 deaths recorded compared to last year's total of 2,546. With the fourth quarter still remaining and an "intensification of militant violence and expanded scale of counter-terrorism operations," 2025 is on track to surpass last year's mortality figures.

Of the 901 Q3 fatalities, 516 (57%) were militants, while civilian and military deaths totaled 385. This breaks down to 219 civilian deaths (24%) and 166 security personnel (18%) killed in various incidents.

Compared to Q2 2025, these statistics represent approximately 55% more casualties among militants (516 vs. 333), over 43% among civilians (219 vs. 153), and nearly 28% among security personnel (166 vs. 130).

"While outlaws suffered the majority of fatalities this quarter, civilians were the most targeted group in terms of attack numbers and injuries sustained, with approximately 123 terror attacks against civilians, compared to about 106 targeting security officials and roughly 100 security operations against outlaws," noted the CRSS report.

"Although security operations were three times fewer than terrorist attacks, they still resulted in nearly as many fatalities as those caused by militant violence against civilians and security forces," the report added.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan—provinces sharing a porous border with Afghanistan—bore the brunt of terrorism, accounting for over 96% of nationwide violence.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the hardest-hit region, experiencing nearly 71% (638) of all violence-related fatalities and over 67% (221) of violent incidents, followed by Balochistan with over 25% of fatalities (230) and incidents (85).

Comparing Q3 with Q2 (616 fatalities), the report highlighted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan saw the largest increases in casualties with 64% (from 390 to 638 fatalities) and 21% (from 190 to 230) surges, respectively.

Sindh province also experienced a significant 162% rise in fatalities, though absolute numbers remained relatively low, increasing from 8 in Q2 to 21 in Q3.

In contrast, the CRSS had previously reported approximately 32% and 40% reductions in violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan during Q2 compared to Q1.

Emphasizing the precision of state-led counter-terrorism operations, the report noted that terrorists suffered the fewest injuries despite being involved in the fewest incidents (security force operations), yet accounted for the majority of fatalities compared to civilians and security personnel.