North Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar, and Bajaur witnessed a higher number of terrorist attacks compared to other districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between June 2022 and June 2023, data released by KP police shows.

A total of 665 terror attacks were recorded across the KP during a 12-month period.

There were 382 gun attacks, 107 hand-grenade attacks, 145 bomb attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 15 rocket attacks, and at least 14 suicide bombings.

The province also saw two car bombings, both in the North Waziristan district.

North Waziristan, which shares the border with Afghanistan, was hardest hit by terror with 140 attacks.

Dera Ismail Khan saw 81 attacks and the neighbouring district of Lakki Marwat 48.

With Tank recording 39, Bannu 38, and South Waziristan 49 terror attacks, the southern region of the province faces serious security challenges.

Peshawar and Bajaur were also rattled by terror with around 55 attacks recorded in each district.

Read: Why KP police are in the crosshairs of terrorists’ guns?

Pakistan, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has seen an uptick in terrorist attacks since the end of a shaky ceasefire agreed with the outlawed TTP.

The banned group, a separate entity from its ideological twin the Afghan Taliban, has been responsible for hundreds of attacks and thousands of deaths since emerging in 2007.

“Militants target police as they are a soft and a prime target,” Moazzam Jah Ansari, the KP Police inspector general, told Aaj News in February after the Peshawar mosque blast. He had explained that policemen were easily identifiable because of their rank, uniform, and mobile van.

In the interview, Ansari did not comment on any “soft corner” being given to troublemakers for regrouping after coming from Afghanistan as it was not his “mandate”.