Pakistan Security Report

Key Chapter Title List

1. 2025 Security Overview: Key Challenges and Recommendations
2. 2025 Pakistan Security Landscape
3. 2025 Pakistan Militant Landscape
4. National Response Measures
5. Pakistan 2025: Extremism Landscape, Forecasts, and Policy Options
6. The Evolving Media and Propaganda Strategies of Militants
7. Emerging Links Between Balochistan Liberation Army, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and Al-Qaeda
8. Securing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Risks and Policy Pathways
9. Pakistan's 2025 Success Case Against Islamic State Khorasan Province
10. 2025 Faith-Based Violence and Persecution

Document Introduction

This report, released by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies on January 1, 2026, is an authoritative annual assessment of Pakistan's security situation in 2025. Based on detailed event data and in-depth analysis, it reveals the multi-dimensional security challenges the country faced in the past year, particularly the significant escalation of terrorism and insurgency activities and their profound impact on national stability and development.

In 2025, Pakistan recorded a total of 699 terrorist attack incidents nationwide, a sharp increase of 34% compared to the previous year. These attacks resulted in at least 1,034 fatalities and 1,366 injuries, with the death toll rising by 21% year-on-year. Security and law enforcement personnel bore the heaviest brunt, accounting for over 42% of all fatalities (437 individuals), including a large number of police officers, army soldiers, and border guards. Civilian casualties were also severe, with 354 non-combatants killed. Classified by motive, attacks launched by religious extremist groups constituted the vast majority (454 incidents), primarily driven by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and its allies, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, Lashkar-e-Islam, and Islamic State Khorasan Province. Concurrently, nationalist (or sub-nationalist) insurgent violence, mainly by Baloch armed groups, intensified significantly, with 234 attacks carried out throughout the year, causing 339 deaths.

The report provides a detailed analysis of the tactics, targets, and geographical distribution of violent activities. Attackers primarily employed tactics such as direct infantry fire, improvised explosive devices, and grenades, and executed 22 suicide or coordinated fedayeen attacks. Over 95% of the attacks were concentrated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six southern districts including South Waziristan and North Waziristan became the epicenters of violence, accounting for over 60% of the province's total attacks. Attacks in Balochistan were widely distributed across 27 districts, with Kech, Quetta, and other areas being severely affected. Targets were highly concentrated on security forces (455 incidents), while also including targeted attacks on specific groups such as civilians, government officials, political figures, infrastructure (e.g., railways), and non-Baloch laborers.

The structure of this report is designed to systematically deconstruct this complex security landscape. In addition to providing an overview of the overall security situation and key challenges, the report delves into chapters exploring the composition and evolution of militant groups, national-level response strategies, and the development trends and policy options regarding extremism. Notably, the report dedicates a separate chapter to analyzing how militants utilize media and propaganda strategies to amplify their influence and warns of the potentially dangerous links forming between the Balochistan Liberation Army, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and Al-Qaeda. Furthermore, the report treats the security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as a core issue, dedicating an independent chapter to assessing its specific risks and exploring corresponding policy pathways.

Through rigorous analysis of 2025 data, this report not only quantifies the scale and impact of the escalation in violence but also aims to provide policymakers, security analysts, and researchers with evidence-based decision-making references. The report clearly states that addressing the current security crisis requires a comprehensive strategy. It must effectively combat the increasingly rampant religious extremism and ethno-separatist violence while also addressing the underlying social, economic, and political drivers, and building a resilient security framework for critical national projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.