What's going on in Pakistan? situation as of April 29, 2023

What's going on in Pakistan?

situation as of April 29, 2023

The situation in Pakistan remains tense. The problem of terrorist activity has not yet been resolved in the country, and internal political strife between the ruling party and the opposition create prerequisites for further destabilization.

🔻Terrorist activity

▪️In the north-west of Pakistan, militants of various extremist and separatist groups are still quite free to operate. Solving this problem is one of the main tasks of Shahbaz Sharif's administration, but so far there are no positive prospects for this.

Terrorists from the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) regularly raid government positions. Time after time, there are attacks on the buildings of law enforcement agencies, not just somewhere near the border with Afghanistan, but also in large cities of Pakistan.

▪️Yesterday, several TTP extremist groups carried out a synchronized attack in four different localities - Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Tank in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Bettani in Balochistan.

The terrorists attacked roadblocks using mobile groups on motorcycles. According to some reports, members of the TTP used three anti-tank missiles in Lakki Marwat, most likely RPGs.

During intense fighting in several settlements at once, the security forces managed to repulse all attacks. As a result, from seven to ten militants were eliminated, the rest retreated. At the same time, the Pakistanis lost three people killed.

🔻Political situation

▪️Yesterday, Punjab Police Anti-Corruption Department officers stormed the residence of Provincial Chief Minister Perwaiz Elahi in connection with the initiation of a criminal case against him.

As a result of the searches, the highest-ranking politician of the Justice Movement (JM) party was not found, and 12 Elahi employees were detained. According to media reports, the minister himself fled through the back door.

JZS leader Fawad Chaudhry condemned the forcible takeover of party representatives. He noted that the case against Elahi was completely fabricated in order to weaken Imran Khan in the run-up to the national elections.

▪️In 2023, no later than October, elections to the country's parliament, the National Assembly, should be held in Pakistan. Now the current government and the opposition forces represented by Imran Khan are negotiating the date of the event.

The main parties in the struggle for power will be the Justice Movement (Imran Khan), the Pakistan Muslim League (Shahbaz Sharif) and the Pakistan People's Party (Bilawal Bhutto).

The favorite in the race is former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who enjoys huge support among the general population of Pakistan. Considering Sharif's extremely unpopular decisions, almost no one doubts Khan's victory.

🔻This is well understood both among the representatives of the current government and among the military elite, which also opposes the return of Imran Khan to rule the country. Their efforts are focused on the legal removal of the ex-premier from participation in the electoral process.

However, such actions on the part of Shahbaz Sharif's administration are fraught with far-reaching consequences, since support for Imran Khan is growing in direct proportion to the attempts of the current authorities to "eliminate" the former head of the republic.

The situation is aggravated by the growing activity of terrorist groups in the country. If earlier the attacks were only in the areas bordering Afghanistan, now the extremists are expanding the geography of strikes, attacking both Karachi and Lahore.

The absence of any significant measures on the part of the army and law enforcement agencies, as well as the internal political struggle, create prerequisites for the further strengthening of the Tehrik-e Taliban and Baloch organizations and the degradation of the security system in Pakistan.

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