In 2008, Pakistan saw 40

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attacks, which caused 154 fatalities and 256 injuries.

January

* 10 January:- 24 people were killed and 73 injured in a

suicide attack A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

when the policemen were deliberately targeted outside

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is a provincial court house based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over the province of Punjab. The High Court's principal seat is ...

before the scheduled lawyer's protest against the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

's capital,

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. This attack was first of its kind in Lahore since the start of the war on terror. * 14 January:- At least 10 people were killed and over 50 wounded when a bomb

explode An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...

d in

Quaidabad Quaidabad ( Punjabi, ), is a city and tehsil of Khushab District in the Punjab, Pakistan. It is located 283 kilometers away from Islamabad and 295 kilometers from Lahore in northwest Punjab. It is located on the main Lahore-Mianwali road, 90 kilo ...

, Punjab. The bomb was planted on a bicycle and it went off during the early hours in a vegetable market in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. * 17 January:- At least 12 people were killed and 25 others injured, three of them critically, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the crowded Mirza Qasim Baig

Imambargah A Husayniyya () is a building designed specifically for gatherings of Shia Muslims for spiritual practice, religious education and commemoration ceremonies, especially the Mourning of Muharram. The Husayniyya is a multipurpose hall for the com ...

in Mohalla Janghi, Kohati, in

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

's capital city

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

February

* 4 February:- At least 10 people were killed and 27 others injured, when a suicide bomber crashed his bike into an

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

bus carrying students and officials of

Army Medical College The Army Medical College (AMC) is a military medical college located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The medical college provides medical and dental education to its cadets before their commissioning in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps. His ...

, near the General

Headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, Punjab. This became the eleventh attack on the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, the fourth in Rawalpindi near GHQ, and first of its kind on

medical student A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

s. * 9 February:- At least 25 people died and 35 were injured after a powerful explosion hit an opposition election rally in

Charsadda Chārsadda (; ; ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.ANP, a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

party, one of whose leaders, Fazal-ur-Rehman Atakhail, was

assassinate Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

d 7 February in Karachi, triggering widespread protests. Possible conspirators of the latest attack could be the Islamist

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

nexus operating in NWFP. * 11 February:- A suicide attack on a public meeting in

Miranshah Mīrānshāh ()() is a main town in the region that is the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Miranshah lies on the banks of the Tochi River in a wide valley surrounded by the foo ...

North Waziristan North Waziristan District (, ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . The capital ...

Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the ...

, left at least eight people dead and a dozen wounded, including a candidate for the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. It was the second attack on ANP's election gathering in two days. * 16 February:- A suicide bomber rammed his

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

-laden vehicle on the election meeting of

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

, the party of the slain former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

Parachinar Parachinar (; ) is a city and the capital of the Kurram District in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Parachinar is situated on the west of Peshawar, that juts into the Paktia, Logar and Nangarhar provinces of Afghanistan. With ...

Kurram Agency Kurram District () is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The name Kurram comes from the river ''Kwarma'' () in Pashto, which itself derives from the Sanskrit word ''Krumu'' (). Until 2018, it functi ...

, FATA. The attack left at least 47 people dead and 150 injured according to the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. It was the fourth such attack on PPP's political workers within a year; two of them targeting the former PPP leader

. * 18 February:- At least 24 people were killed and nearly 200 were injured in election-related violence across the country on the eve of

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Aaj TV () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language an ...

reported. * 22 February:- A

roadside bomb An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

near the town of Matta,

Swat District Swat District (), also known as the Swat Valley, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Known for its stunning natural beauty, the district is a popular tourist destination. With a populati ...

, NWFP, killed at least 13 members of a wedding party and left about a dozen injured. An

spokesman said the bomb had been

detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves wit ...

d by remote control. Women and children were among the casualties. * 25 February:- The Army's top medic Lt Gen Mushtaq Baig was killed, along with the driver and

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) ...

, when a suicide attack ripped apart the vehicle he was travelling in at 2:45pm local time near Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. At least 5 other passersby were also killed and 20 injured in the incident. Baig was the highest-ranking officer to be killed in Pakistan since the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. This attack was the twelfth such incidence against the Army and fifth one near GHQ. * 29 February:- At least 38 people were killed and 75 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in

Mingora Mingora (, ''Romanised: Minga Wara'') is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and ...

, Swat District, NWFP, during the funeral of a senior police officer who had been killed hours earlier in

Lakki Marwat Lakki Marwat or Lakki (Urdu and ) is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Lakki Marwat has become List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, one of the fastest growing cities in Khyber P ...

, NWFP. The police DSP was killed along with three other policemen when their vehicle was hit in a

earlier in the day. Witnesses said the suicide attack took place when a police party was presenting a

gun salute A gun salute or cannon salute is the use of a piece of artillery to fire shots, often 21 in number (''21-gun salute''), with the aim of marking an honor or celebrating a joyful event. It is a tradition in many countries around the world. Histo ...

in honour of the slain police officer in a school ground in Mingora city at about 8 pm.

March

* 2 March:- At least 42 people were killed and 58 injured in a suicide attack, when the bomber struck the meeting of tribal elders and local officials in

Darra Adam Khel Darra Adam Khel () is the main town of Dara Adam Khel Tehsil (formerly known as "Frontier Region Kohat") in the Kohat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It has gained fame and notoriety for its bazaars packed with gunsmiths and weapons me ...

, FATA. The town of Darra was the center of violent clashes earlier in January when the

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

s took over the

Kohat Tunnel The Kohat Tunnel (, ''Kohat Surang'') is a National Highways of Pakistan, highway tunnel under the Khigana Mountains between Kohat District and Dara Adam Khel Tehsil in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The tunnel carries northbound ...

that connected Peshawar with

Kohat Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population o ...

, NWFP. After the onslaught of security forces to take back the tunnel, the fighting resulted in the deaths of 13 troops and 70 militants. * 4 March:- Eight persons were killed and 24 others injured when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the parking area of the

Pakistan Navy War College The Pakistan Navy War College is a military staff college located in Walton Cantonment in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The Navy War College takes pride itself as being the "center of excellence" as it educates and develops leaders in maritime ma ...

located in the city of Lahore. It was the first time a Pakistani naval institution was targeted by the militants (the army has been targeted at least eight times outside the war zone and Air Force twice) since the ongoing war on terror in general and post-

siege of Lal Masjid The siege of Lal Masjid (; code-named Operation Sunrise) was an armed confrontation in July 2007 between Islamic fundamentalist militants and the government of Pakistan, led by president Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz. The ...

in particular. The college attack was carried out by two suicide attackers, the first one to clear the way for the second one; and the second one to do the damage. * 11 March:- At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in twin suicide bombings in Lahore. One of the attacks ripped apart

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency (; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdiction on u ...

(FIA) building killing 21, including 16 policemen. The other one hit the upmarket locality of Model Town, exploding close to Bilawal House, associated with PPP leaders Benazir Bhutto and her husband

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

. * 15 March:- An attack occurred when a bomb was hurled over a wall surrounding an

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

restaurant. Four of the 12 people wounded in the bombing were U.S.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agents. In addition to wounding the agents, the explosion killed a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

woman and wounded a fifth

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, three

Pakistanis Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

, a person from the United Kingdom and another from Japan.

April

* 9 April:- Riots in Karachi kill 9 people and wound many others with 40 vehicles getting torched after two groups of lawyers scuffle that begin after PML-Q leaders, former CM Sindh

Arbab Ghulam Rahim Arbab Ghulam Rahim (; born 1 January 1957) is a senior Pakistani politician who served as the Chief Minister of the Government of Sindh from 2004 until 2007. After that he also served as a special minister to Imran Khan on matters of Sindh fro ...

and former federal minister Sher Afgan Niazi are maltreated ahead of government formation in the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

of Sindh and Punjab. * 17 April:- At least 20 people were killed and dozens others injured in the clashes between two belligerent factions in

Khyber District Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in ...

, FATA.

May

* 6 May:- At least four people killed in a suspected suicide attack in

Bannu Bannu (, ), also called Bani Gul or Bani (, ) is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe and speak Banuch ...

, NWFP, amid signs the truce with militants was breaking down, negotiations for which started in March. * 18 May:- A bomb attack targeting the Army's Punjab Regimental Center market in the city of

Mardan Mardān is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). ...

, NWFP, killed at least 13 people, including four soldiers and injured more than 20. This was the second attack in Mardan in a month after a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

ing on 25 April killed three and injured 26 people. This attack was the thirteenth one on the army since the start of military operations. * 19 May:- At least four people were killed and another two injured in a remote-controlled bomb blast outside a mosque in the

Mamund Tehsil Mamund Tehsil () is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Mamund is the largest of Bajaur District's seven tehsils. History Bajaur was declared as a subdivision of the former Malaka ...

of Bajaur Agency. * 26 May:- Seven people were killed and five others injured in what appeared to be incidents of

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

violence in Dera Ismail Khan, NWFP.

June

* 2 June:- The Danish

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

in Islamabad was attacked with a car bomb, killing six people. A post purportedly from al-Qaeda's

Mustafa Abu al-Yazid Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid (), better known as Saeed al-Masri () or simply al-Masri, (February 27, 1955 - May 21, 2010) was an Egyptian who was alleged to have acted as the financial chief for al-Qaeda. Along with Mahfouz Ould al ...

appeared on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

a day after the attack claiming responsibility. The statement mentions the publication of "insulting drawings" and the refusal to "apologise for publishing them" referring to the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, ) began after the Danish newspaper published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in what it said was a response to the deb ...

. * 9 June:-

Sufi Muhammad Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan (Urdu: ; born 1933 – 11 July 2019) was a Pakistani Sunni Salafi cleric and militant, and the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), a militant group (declared a terrorist outfit and banned in ...

, leader of the TNSM, survived a remote-controlled bombing initiated by local Taliban in Peshawar, in which four policemen were injured. * 16 June:- A bomb blast inside a Shia mosque killed at least four people and wounded two others in Dera Ismail Khan.

July

* 6 July:- A suicide bomber killed 19 people in an attack targeting policemen deployed at a rally observing the first anniversary of an army raid on the Islamabad's Lal Masjid. * 7 July:- A string of small explosions, apparently from bombs, wounded at least 37 people in Karachi, rattling Pakistan a day after a deadly suicide attack in capital of Pakistan. * 2 August:- At least eight police and security workers were killed when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near their vehicle in Mingora, Swat. * 31 July – 4 August:- A total of 136 people were killed in Swat Valley in a week of fighting between the security forces and pro-Taliban militants. The casualties included at least 94 militants, 14 soldiers and around 28 civilians.

August

* 9 August:- Militants stormed a police post in the village of Kingargalai of the

Buner District Buner District (, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the S ...

, killing eight policemen. * 12 August:- A bomb targeting a

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

bus carrying personnel from a military base killed 13 people and wounded 11 others on Tuesday on a major road near the center of Peshawar. Taliban forces reportedly took responsibility. The attack was seen as retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes in

Bajaur Agency Bajaur District (, ), formerly Bajaur Agency, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Prior to 2018, Bajaur Agency was the northernmost component of the Federally Administered Tribal ...

, a militant stronghold near the border with Afghanistan. Five of the dead were air force personnel and the eight others were bystanders. * 13 August:- Eight people, including two policemen, were killed and over 20, including 12 policemen, were injured after an alleged suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in Lahore on the eve of Independence Day celebrations. On the same day, six people were killed and 19 others, four of them policemen, were injured in explosions in Hub and Uthal, a hand-grenade attack in

Panjgur Panjgur or Pangor ( Balochi and ), transliterated and misspelled in Arabic as Bannajbur or Fannazbur is a city in Panjgur District, Balochistan. It is renowned for its dates. The name drives its origins from blending of two Balochi words i.e "P ...

and shooting incidents in

Kharan Kharan can refer to: * Kharan, Pakistan, city in Balochistan. * Kharan District, district of Balochistan, Pakistan * Kharan (princely state), former princely state * Kharan Desert * The upper Halil River Halīl River or HalīlRood (also ''Halir ...

and

Turbat Turbat (Urdu and ) is a city in the southern region of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is the administrative centre of Kech District. Turbat is the second-largest city in Balochistan after Quetta and the 35th largest city in the coun ...

towns in Balochistan, while leader of the banned outfit Amr Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar Haji Namdar was shot dead when he was delivering a sermon in

Bara tehsil Bara Tehsil () is a subdivision located in Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Geography Adjacent administrative units *Nazyan District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan (north) * Landi Kotal Tehsil (north) *Jamrud Tehsil (northeast ...

. Haji Namdar had earlier escaped a suicide attack on 1 May 2008 in which 17 people were injured. * 7 August – 18 August:- Clashes mainly between the Toori and Bangash tribes, but which involved other local tribes, in the

left at least 287 people dead and 373 injured in 12 consecutive days of fighting. In the later incidents, pro-Taliban militants were involved too, after which the local tribesmen asked the government to flush out the militants. * 19 August:- 32 people, seven policemen and two health officials among them, were killed and 55 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the emergency ward of the District Headquarters Hospital in

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Durand Line, Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, i ...

claimed responsibility for the attack. * 21 August:- At least 70 people were killed and 67 others injured when two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the gates of the state run

Pakistan Ordnance Factories The Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) is a major firearms and a defence contractor headquartered in Wah Cantt, Punjab, Pakistan. Described as "the largest defence industrial complex under the Ministry of Defence Production, producing convent ...

Wah Cantonment The Wah Cantonment (; ) (often abbreviated to Wah Cantt) is a military base in Wah, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is a part of the Taxila Tehsil of the Rawalpindi District, Pakistan. It is the 24th most populous city in Pakistan by ...

claimed responsibility for the attack. This attack was the fourteenth such attack on the symbol of Pakistan Army since the start of military operations in 2004. * 21 August:- An influential person of Ningulai in the Swat District, Musa Khan, was shot dead by unidentified assailants as soon as he stepped out of the mosque after prayers. His guards opened fire but the assailants managed to escape. A passerby, Islam Gul, also sustained injuries in the incident. Haji Musa Khan had escaped a bomb and a gun attack in recent past.

spokesman

Muslim Khan Muslim Khan (1954 - 2017) was a captured Pakistani militant and former spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chapter based in Swat and became the chief spokesman of the Swat Taliban in 2007. Early life and education Born in Kabal Tehsi ...

claimed responsibility for the killing and accused the tribal elder of being an active supporter of security forces. * 23 August:- 20 people were killed when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a police station in Charbagh Tehsil of Swat valley of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

claimed responsibility for the attack. * 25 August:- 10 people were killed in a rocket attack targeting the house of a local member of provincial assembly (MPA) in Swat valley in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. As a result of the attack, ANP MPA Waqar Ahmed's brother and other family members were killed. * 26 August:- Eight people were killed and more than 20 hurt in a bomb explosion at a roadside restaurant in the Model Town area on the outskirts of Islamabad on Tuesday. * 28 August:- 9 people were killed and 15 others were injured in a bomb attack targeting a police van in the Bannu area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

September

* 6 September:- At least 30 people were killed and 70 injured when a suicide car bomb struck a paramilitary checkpoint 20 km from Peshawar. The attack came during the voting to elect

as the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

and the marking of Defence Day. * 10 September:- At least 25 worshippers were killed and 50 others injured in a grenade-and-gun attack in a mosque in the Maskanai area of

Lower Dir District Lower Dir District (, ) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Timergara is the district's headquarters and largest city. The Lower Dir district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was divided into Upper Dir and Lower ...

, northern part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. * 19 September:- A bomb exploded at an Islamic religious school in Quetta killing five people and wounding at least eight. The school was run by

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (, abbreviated as JUI, translated as Assembly of Islamic Clergy) is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim organization that was founded on 26 October 1945 by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as a pro-Pakistan offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH ...

, the religious party headed by

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman (born 19 June 1953) is a Pakistani politician and cleric who is the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). He was previously the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of political parties whi ...

. * 20 September:- A massive truck bomb exploded outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, killing at 57 people and wounding 266 others. The suicide attack believed to be carried by a single individual left a deep and wide crater, and was later owned by a little known group called Fidayeen-e-Islam. It was carried at local

Iftar ''Iftar'' () is the Fasting in Islam, fast-breaking Supper, evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of ' (call to prayer) of the Maghrib prayer. Iftar is the second meal of the day; during Ramadan, the daily fast begins immediately a ...

time, when the local and foreign residents had assembled together to have the Ramadan feast. The attack was significant as all the top political, diplomatic and military top brass was also dining in the nearby Prime Ministers Secretariat after the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

's first parliamentary address. * 22 September:- At least nine security personnel were killed in a suicide car-bomb attack on a checkpost in Swat District. * 26 September:- A bomb attack on a train killed at least three people and fifteen others near the city of

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

. The bomb, which was kept on the railway track, blew up and derailed the passenger train. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

October

* 2 October:- A suicide attack targeted the house of ANP leader

Asfandyar Wali Khan Asfandyar Wali Khan (; ; born 19 February 1949) is a Pakistani politician from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, currently serving as the president of the Awami National Party (ANP). He is the son of Abdul Wali Khan, the party's founding president. Wali Kh ...

in Walibagh,

Charsadda Chārsadda (; ; ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Bhakkar Bhakkar () is the principal city of Bhakkar District, Punjab, Pakistan. It lies on the left bank of the Indus River. It is the 86th most populous city in Pakistan. Administration Bhakkar is the administrative centre of Bhakkar Tehsil, which ...

, when he targeted the political gathering of Rashid Akbar Nawani, an MNA of

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

. Nawani, though survived the attack, was hurt. This was the first such attack on PML-N, since the start of war on terrorism. This was a sectarian attack as Mr Nawani was

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

, and most of the party workers in the gathering were from the minority Shia sect. * 9 October:- A suicide bomb attack on a main police headquarters in Islamabad killed at least eight and wounded at least another 8. The targeted area was the main police complex in the capital, containing training and residential facilities for police officers. Thousands of police are based at the centre. Another bomb occurred as the country's spy chief briefed politicians on the security situation. Eleven people were killed in the

Upper Dir District Upper Dir District (, ) is a district located in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city of Dir is its district headquarter. Geographically, it is located in the northern part of Pakistan. It borders with th ...

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Paki ...

when a roadside bomb exploded near a police van carrying prisoners. Four schoolchildren in a passing bus were also among the dead. * 10 October:- A suicide bomber drove his car into a meeting of 600 people in

Orakzai Agency Orakzai District (, ) is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before 1973, it was part of FR Kohat. Up until 2018, it was an agency within the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. However, ...

, which was being held in open ground and blew himself up. The meeting was a council of local leaders discussing to raise a militia to evict Taliban from the region. The attack claimed at least 110 lives and injured more than 200. * 13 October:- A remote-controlled bomb detonated near the vehicle of a secular political leader, who was injured along with four others. This follows a string of attacks against lawmakers and government officials; and was also the second this month aimed at the

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...

. The attack apparently targeted Shamin Khan, a member of the Pashtun secularist ANP, at 18:30 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. * 16 October:- A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police station in the restive Swat Valley region, killing four people and destroying the building in

. * 19 October:- A separatist group, Baloch Republic Army, claimed responsibility for the bomb blast in northwestern Balochistan province, which killed at least three people and injured six. The blast occurred in a bazar of the Dera Bugti district, and the remote-controlled bomb was planted in a motorcycle. * 26 October:- At least 11 people, seven of them

Frontier Corps The Frontier Corps (, reporting name: FC) are a group of four paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's b ...

personnel and three Khasadars, were killed and five injured on Sunday in a suicide attack near Ghalaanai in

Mohmand Agency Mohmand District (, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, with merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it became a district. It ...

. * 27 October:- Two persons were killed and 12 others injured, some of them seriously, in a bomb blast near the District Court Complex in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

. * 31 October:- At least eight people were killed and 20 injured in a suspected suicide bombing targeting the policeman in the north-western city of

November

* 2 November:- Eight Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a security checkpoint near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. * 4 November:- At least seven persons, including three security officials, were killed and six injured in a suicide attack on a security force checkpost in Hangu District on Tuesday morning. * 6 November:- 22 tribesmen were killed and 45 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a

Salarzai The Salarzai are one of the four Tarkani clans. They inhabit Afghanistan as well as what is now Buner District and Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 2014, they may have been the majority tribe among the area's 600,000 population. In commo ...

jirga in

on Thursday. The blast targeted a lashkar (volunteer militia) in Batmalani, about 40 kilometres northeast of agency headquarters

Khar Khar may refer to: Places * Khar, Mumbai, a suburb of Mumbai, India * Khar, Punjab, a town in the Punjab Province, Pakistan * Khar, Bajaur, a town in the Bajaur Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan * Khar, Nepal, a village in Darchu ...

. * 11 November:- A suicide bomber blew himself up at a packed

Qayyum Stadium The Qayyum Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The sports complex is owned by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It has an overall capacity of 15,000 spectators. The stadium ...

in Peshawar on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 13. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor

Owais Ahmed Ghani Owais Ahmed Ghani (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani politician who served as the governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in 2008-2011, having previously governed the southwestern province of Balochistan for four and a half years (2003-2008). ...

had just left the venue and senior provincial minister

Bashir Bilour Bashir Ahmad Bilour (; 1 August 1943 – 22 December 2012) was a Pakistani member of the provincial assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Senior Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Early life and education B ...

was on his way out. Bashir Bilour, the apparent target, said that two of his guards were among the dead and three had been injured. * 12 November:- Five people were killed as a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-filled bus into the gates of a school in Charsadda District. Two others were killed as troops fired in retaliation. Fifteen people including soldiers and civilians were injured. * 13 November:- TTP captured of military convoy * 17 November:- At least three troops were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a security checkpost in Swat's Khawazakhela area. * 19 November:- A former head of the army's elite commando force

Special Service Group The Special Service Group (SSG) are the special forces of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear. The SSG is responsible to deploy and execute five doctrinal missions: foreign inte ...

, Maj-Gen (R)

Ameer Faisal Alavi Ameer Faisal Alavi (28 March 1954 – 19 November 2008) was a Pakistan Army two-star general and special operations expert who was the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the elite Special Service Group of Pakistan Army. A former member o ...

, and his driver were gunned down near Islamabad in the morning. Alvi, who commanded the SSG during the first major assault on militants in Angoor Ada in South Waziristan in 2004, was killed near his home while driving to work on

Islamabad Highway The Islamabad Expressway (), sometimes also referred to as Islamabad Highway, is a major north–south expressway in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The expressway provides quick access between the Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Punjab, co ...

near the PWD Housing Society in the Koral police precinct. This attack was the fifteenth such attack on the army outside war zone, and the sixth one in the vicinity of Rawalpindi, the site of Army GHQ. * 20 November:- A suicide bomber killed at least nine people and injured four others on Thursday at a mosque in Mamoond tehsil of

. * 21 November:- Eight people were killed and 17 others injured in a blast during the funeral of a cleric near the bus stand in the morning in

. The bombing took place at Bannu Ada in

killing 8. Sectarianism in the city rose in 2007-2009 span. More than 8 people died each month from sectarian violence. The November 2008 bombing was part of series of attacks against

Shi'i Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

. * 22 November:- Six people were killed and 15 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in Tandaro area of Tall in Hangu District on Saturday. While at least three people including a teenager were injured in a series of three explosions near the Alhamra Cultural Complex in

late on Saturday, where the international World Performing Arts Festival was in progress. * 28 November:- Nine people, including four police, were killed and 16 others injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden coach into a police vehicle on the Peshawar-Bannu Road in Domel area of

on Friday.

December

* 1 December:- Ten people were killed and 49 others injured when a suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden truck near the

Sangota ### Sangota A village in the Swat District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located at 34°47'0"N 72°25'0"E with an altitude of 1120 meters (3677 feet). Sangota is part of the beautiful Swat Valley, known for its lush landscapes and vi ...

security post, some seven kilometres north-east of

on Monday. * 5 December:- At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded when two bombs exploded in crowded markets in northwest Pakistan. A blast in the heart of

Peshwar Peshawar is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district population of over 4.7 million in the 2023 census. It is situated in the north-west o ...

killed 21 and created a crater. Just hours earlier six people died in a car bomb explosion at a market in the semi-autonomous

Orakzai The Orakzai (Pashto: وركزۍ) are a Pashtun tribe native to the Orakzai Agency and parts of Kurram and Khyber Agencies in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Additionally, a sub-tribe of the Orakzai resides in Afghanistan's Maidan W ...

tribal district. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the two attacks. * 28 December:- At least 36 people were killed in a suspected car bomb attack near a polling station in a government school in

on Sunday. 16 people were injured in the blast believed to have been carried out to disrupt the by-election for a National Assembly seat.Abdur Rahman Abid
"Suicide blast rocks Buner on polling day; 36 killed"
''Dawn'', 29 December 2008

References

{{Terrorist incidents in Pakistan 2008 in Pakistan

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...