Terrorism in Pakistan during COVID-19

Abstract

The security landscape of Pakistan has witnessed a slight increase in terrorist incidents since March 2020 when the coronavirus cases started to rise. There have been some recent indications that militant groups could be trying to regroup and consolidate their operational strength. However, linking this surge in terrorist attacks with the pandemic is difficult, but COVID-19 has increased vulnerabilities on the level of state and society and terrorists could exploit those, in a way, that they can exploit people’s anti-government grievances. Although it is too early to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the conflict and conflict-related situations, it cannot be ruled out that terrorists in the past have been exploiting the grievances of the marginalized groups including those living in camps. Therefore, the threat could have multiple aspects, ranging from the possibility of the spread of the disease to recruitment for the militants. Against this backdrop, this chapter focuses on the key challenges related to terrorism and its interface with the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The first part consists of a review of the terrorist groups’ activities since March 2020 aimed at studying changes in their operational targets, strategies, and tactics, as well as how they are using the coronavirus pandemic for propaganda purposes. The second part focuses on the Afghan Taliban’s nexus with foreign terrorist groups and its implications for Pakistan. The last part looks into state responses to all emerging threats and offers an analysis of the responses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.