ISLAMABAD — Militant attacks across Pakistan fell by 37 percent in October, reversing two straight months of rising violence, according to monthly statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based think tank, and reported by Dawn on Sunday.

Source: Dawn via PICSS

PICSS recorded 143 attacks in October, down from 226 in September. Deaths in those attacks fell 57 percent, from 260 to 111, while injuries dropped 71 percent, from 242 to 69 — the lowest monthly injury count in a year, the institute said.

143militant attacks in October
226attacks in September
88people kidnapped — a 12-month high
70of those kidnapped were in Balochistan

The improvement was led by the two hardest-hit provinces. Attacks in Balochistan fell 46 percent to 71, and attacks in mainland Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fell 31 percent to 40, PICSS said, while the former tribal districts recorded a 12 percent decline, Sindh reported no attacks and Punjab saw a small rise. Suicide attacks fell to a single vehicle-borne incident that caused no casualties, compared with three suicide attacks in September that killed 45 people and injured 138.

The one measure that moved sharply the other way was kidnapping. PICSS said 88 people were kidnapped in militant incidents in October, up 22 percent from 72 in September and the highest monthly figure in 12 months. Balochistan alone accounted for 70 of the 88 — nearly 80 percent of the national total — a pattern analysts cited in the reports described as a tactical shift by militant groups even as bombings and armed attacks declined.

Security forces' counterterrorism operations killed 156 militants and led to seven arrests during October, PICSS said. Counting both the attacks and the operations, the month's combined toll was 272 deaths and 71 injuries, according to the institute's figures.

The October respite still leaves a violent year. PICSS counted 1,376 attacks in the first ten months of 2026 — 53 percent more than in the same period of 2025 — with 3,902 deaths recorded over that period, so October's fall is a pause in a much higher overall level of violence, not yet a turnaround, the reports based on the data noted.