Pakistan has recorded 57 terrorism-related incidents in just 17 days in May 2025, resulting in 200 fatalities spanning security forces, militants, and civilians, according to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) and cited in a report by Eurasia Review. The figures underscore a sharply deteriorating security environment driven by the resurgence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a deepening Baloch insurgency, and escalating tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Worst Violence Since 2009

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bore the heaviest toll in 2025, recording 2,359 deaths across 545 incidents — the highest fatality count in the province since 2009. This represents a 73.07% surge compared to 2024, when the province logged 1,363 fatalities in 487 incidents. The province has become the primary theatre of TTP operations as the group rebuilds operational capacity following a period of relative dormancy.

Balochistan: Nearly Double the Fatalities Year-on-Year

Balochistan recorded 1,534 deaths in 482 incidents of violence in 2025, against 774 fatalities in 250 incidents in 2024 — a 98.19% increase. According to the report, the escalation is 'substantially a consequence of the continuing frustration among Baloch nationalist groups over the systematic extermination of ethnic Baloch through enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by Pakistan security agencies and their proxies — the death squads — in addition to the persistent neglect of the basic needs of the population.' The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has intensified attacks on security infrastructure across the province.

Afghanistan Border: A Second Front

The Afghanistan-Pakistan border region has emerged as a second active front, witnessing two recurring patterns of violence: infiltrating militant attacks on Pakistani security checkposts and camps, and direct exchanges of fire between the security forces of both countries over border fencing and the construction of security infrastructure. Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have grown increasingly strained, with each side accusing the other of harbouring hostile armed groups.

Pakistan Tops Global Terrorism Index 2025

Against this backdrop, Pakistan ranked first on the Global Terrorism Index 2025 — published by the Institute for Economics and Peace — for the first time. The report noted that terrorism-related deaths in Pakistan reached their highest level since 2013, with the country recording 1,139 fatalities and 1,045 incidents in 2023. The combination of TTP resurgence, BLA escalation, and deteriorating regional diplomacy has placed Pakistan at the centre of South Asia's security concerns heading into the second half of 2025.

What Comes Next

Analysts warn that without a structural shift in Pakistan's approach to both militant groups and Baloch grievances, the violence trajectory is unlikely to reverse. The country's capacity to manage simultaneous insurgencies on multiple fronts — while navigating a fragile economy and strained foreign relationships — will be the defining security challenge of the near term.