Sectarian violence in Pakistan

Sectarian violence in Pakistan
	Part of the Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Insurgency in Balochistan, the Insurgency in Sindh, the MQM militancy, the war on terror and Terrorism in Pakistan
Date	Since 15th August 1947; (78 years, 7 months and 2 days)
Location	Pakistan
Result	Ongoing (low-level insurgency) Some success in reduction of killings and attacks on civilians; Intermittent series of multilateral talks underway with groups specially with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.; 2022 ceasefire ended as of 2023 between Government of Pakistan and Pakistani Taliban.; The Pakistani Taliban announced re-insurgency in Pakistan & series of attacks started by Pakistani Taliban.;
Combatants
Pakistan:; Government of Pakistan Ministry of Defence Pakistan Armed Forces Pakistan Army; Pakistan Air Force; Pakistan Navy; ; ; Ministry of Interior Civil Armed Forces Pakistan Levies; Frontier Corps; Pakistan Rangers; Pakistan Coast Guards; Gilgit Baltistan Scouts; Federal Constabulary; ; ; Pakistan Police Counter Terrorism Department; Balochistan Levies; ; Pakistani Intelligence community NACTA; ISI; MI; IB; FIA; SB; ; ; The victims: Shia Muslims (main victims); Anti-sectarianist Sunni Muslims; Ahmadiyya; Hindus; Christians; Sikhs; Other ethnic and religious communities in Pakistan; ;	Terrorist & extremist groups: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi; Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan; Tariq Gidar Group; Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group; Fedayeen al-Islam (until 2010); Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad Group; Punjabi Taliban (until 2014); Ansar ul-Mujahideen; Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Ahrar-ul-Hind; ; ; East Turkestan Islamic Movement (the group lost territories in 2015 & active until 2017 in Waziristan); Islamic Jihad Union (until 2025); TLP (2016 – 2025); Hizb ut-Tahrir; Lashkar-e-Omar (until 2002); Haji Namdar Group (until 2008); Tariq Gidar Group (until 2017); Lashkar-e-Islam (until 2025); Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (until 2020); Ahrar-ul-Hind (until 2014); Jaish ul-Adl (against both Iran & Pakistan until 2026); Al-Qaeda AQIS; Ansar Al-Furqan; Abdullah Azzam Brigade (until 2015); Ansarul Sharia Pakistan; ; Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (until 2018) ASWJ (until 2021); ; Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (until 2024); Baloch separatist groups: Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar BLA Majeed Brigade; Fateh Squad; ; BLF; ; LeB (inactive); BLUF (2009-2010); BSO (Azad) (inactive); BNA (2022–23) BRA (2006–22); UBA (2013–22); ; Other Baloch Separatist groups; Islamic State-Aligned groups: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (until 2015); Jundallah (until 2014); Tehreek-e-Khilafat (from 2014); Wilayat Khorasan (from 2015); Islamic State – Pakistan Province; Shia Groups: Tehreek-e-Jafaria Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan; ; Ansar-ul-Hussain Khatam-ul-Anbia; ; Supported by:; Liwa Zainebiyoun (indirectly); Muhajir nationalist groups: (until 2025) MQM-L (until 2016) Good Friends; Sector Commanders (until 2016); Nadeem Commando (1990–96); Faheem Commando (1990–95); ; MQM-H (until 1992); Pro-Sindhudesh Sindhi nationalist groups Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army; ; Sindhudesh Liberation Army; Sindhudesh People’s Army; Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz; Jeay Sindh Students' Federation;
Strength
Pakistan; 600,000 total troops 200,000 Pakistani troops in KPK; 145,000 Pakistani troops in Balochistan; Unknown no. of air squadrons of Navy and Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, including JF-17 and F-16 jets; ~80,000 Frontier Corpsmen;	~25,000 TTP militia; ~2,000 Lashkar-e-Islam militia; ~1,000 TNSM militia; 300–3,000 al-Qaeda militants ISIL Jundallah: 12,000–20,000 (disputed); IMU: 500–1,000;
Casualties and losses
5,740 soldiers and LEAs killed (SATP; by February 2025); 9,431 killed soldiers and LEAs and 14,583 wounded (Costs of War Project; by August 2021)	Total unknown
	Since 1947, tens of thousands of Shia were killed in Pakistan by militants

Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia (a Muslim minority group) were estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia were been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunnis (the largest Muslim sect) Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of (usually Bareelvi) worshippers by more orthodox Sunnis who believe shrine culture to be idolatrous, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistani minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, had faced "unprecedented insecurity and persecution" from 2011 to 2012, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan was that militants/insurgents often target their victims' places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".

Among those blamed for the sectarian violence in the country are mainly Deobandi militant groups, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and also the Jundallah (an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan "has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks" on Shia according to Human Rights Watch. In recent years the Barelvi group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan has been credited with instigating much violence. Salafi militant groups (such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda) are also blamed for attacks on Shias, Barelvis and Sufis. As of 2022, violent sectarian groups have continued to expand their influence across the country, with less violence from SSP and LeJ, but more from Tehreek-e-Labbaik and the Islamic State, and limited response from the state to counter their large-scale attacks. Sectarian violence killed at least 130 people in the northwest of Pakistan over just ten days in November 2024

Sectarian Violence in Pakistan: 1989-2018

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