26 December 2020 - Seven soldiers were martyred in a gun attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan post in Harnai district of Balochistan, the military's media wing said on Sunday.

The terrorists attacked an FC post in Shahrag area of Harnai on 26 December. During intense exchange of fire, 7 FC personals martyred. Security forces cordoned off the area and blocked all escape routes after the attack followed by the operation. The martyred personnel were identified as Naib Subedar Gulzar, resident of Mianwali; Sepoy Faisal, resident of Hafizabad; Sepoy Abdul Wakeel, resident of Pishin; Sepoy Sher Zaman, resident of Kohat; Sepoy Jamal, resident of Dera Bugti; Abdul Rauf, resident of Dera Ghazi Khan; and Faqeer Muhammad, resident of Muzaffargarh. The incident comes five days after 10 suspected terrorists were killed in a gun battle with security forces during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan's Awaran area. These terrorists were involved in firing on security forces, which resulted in martyrdom of Lance Naik Mohammad Iqbal on Dec 20 in the Awaran area.

29 December 2020 - Pakistan sentences two on terror-financing charges.

A Pakistani court has sentenced two alleged members of banned organizations to long prison terms on terrorism-financing charges. The anti-terrorism court in the port city of Karachi published its verdicts in the two separate cases on December 29.

Ghulam Rasool Rabbani, an alleged member of Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD), was sentenced to 25 years in prison and a fine of 2.2 million rupees ($13,700), while Muhammad Shakirullah, said to belong to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), was handed a 20-year prison term in absentia and a 1.1 million rupee ($6,800) fine. Rabbani, who owns the Jamia Masjid Babul Haramain Sharifain Trust mosque and its madrasah in Karachi, was arrested on November 15.

Prosecutors alleged the man had been collecting money for JuD that was then used to finance terrorism, an accusation he rejected. he verdicts come as Pakistan faces potential punitive blacklisting by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organization that underpins the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

In November, a court in Lahore sentenced JuD leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the deadly 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai

2 January 2021 - Pakistan arrests alleged leader of militant group blamed for 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Pakistani authorities have arrested an alleged leader of the militant group that was blamed for the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks in India. An official with the Pakistani counterterrorism police, Shakil Ahmed, said on January 2 that Zaikur Rehman Lakhvi was taken into custody in the eastern city of Lahore on terrorism-financing charges. Lakhvi is alleged to be a leader of Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed by the United States and India for the Mumbai siege in which at least 166 people, including Americans, were killed. Pakistani authorities allege that Lakhvi was running a medical dispensary in Lahore as a front for financing militant activities.

A UN Security Council sanctions committee said Lakhvi is LeT's chief of operations and accuses him of involvement in militant activity abroad, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Russia’s North Caucasus region of Chechnya. LeT is an Al-Qaeda-linked armed militant group that is fighting against Indian control in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir and was banned in 2002 after being linked to an attack on India's parliament.

LeT militants have also carried out attacks against Afghan and foreign troops in Afghanistan. Lakhvi was a prominent figure in Hafiz Muhammad Saeed's charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is believed to be a front for LeT. Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the U.S. Justice Department and has a $10 million bounty on his head, is presently serving multiple jail terms in Pakistan after being convicted in several cases in recent months.
The Pakistani government has seized Saeed's extensive network of mosques, schools, seminaries, charities, and other assets in the country.

3 January 2021 - Gunmen Kill 11 Shi'ite Hazara Coal Miners In Southwestern Pakistan

Gunmen opened fire on a group of minority Shi’ite Hazara coal miners after abducting them, killing 11 in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province, officials said on January 3. Moazzam Ali Jatoi, an official with the paramilitary Levies forces, said the attack took place near the Mach coalfield, about 48 kilometers east of the provincial capital Quetta. Jatoi said armed men took the coal miners to nearby mountains where they opened fire on them. He said six of the miners were killed on the spot and five who were critically wounded died on the way to a hospital. Jatoi said an initial investigation revealed the attackers identified the miners as being from a Shi'ite Hazara community and the gunmen took them away for execution, leaving others unharmed.

Police video of the bodies showed the miners were blindfolded and their hands tied behind their backs before being shot. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings. Members of the Shi’ite ethnic Hazara minority have in the past been targeted by Sunni militant groups, including the extremist Islamic State (IS), both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Local television footage showed security troops surrounding a desolated mountainous area diverting traffic and guiding ambulances to pick up the bodies. Security forces were also seen spreading out in the mountains to search for the perpetrators. The region, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, attacks by Islamist militants, and a separatist insurgency that has produced thousands of casualties since 2004.

Analysis

Pakistan may face a fresh layer of terrorism in near future. The current terrorism incidents are actually warning to coming situation. From attempts to attack economic hubs like Karachi Stock Exchange and Islamabad Stock exchange to attack Chinese investors and companies in Karachi and other parts of country is mere luck. Military and security authorities are working day and night to counter emerging threat. The growing influence of China and its close partnership with Pakistan is not acceptable to world powers. World powers cannot stop China directly so they are using hard approaches to serve their interests. It is a need of time that Foreign nationals in Pakistan prioritize their security measures in Pakistan to keep better flow of economic facilities.