Sources on security incidents and civilian casualties

For this report, these three data sources, CRSS, PICSS and PIPS, were selected for their ability to provide specific information and datasets relevant to the analysis of the security situation in Pakistan. CRSS (Center for Research and Security Studies) publishes annually a report on the security situation in Pakistan3 and also quarterly reports4 which contain statistical data on casualties caused by terrorism and counterterrorism.

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) is an independent research think tank based in Islamabad studying security dynamics in Pakistan and the wider region.5 It publishes annual security reports6 and divides incidents of violence mainly in two categories: 1. ‘violent militant attacks’ and ‘Security Forces Actions’. Sectarian violence, general crimes, ethnic or language-based violence are not recorded. The data collected is based on open sources such as newspapers, government sources and own correspondents.7 PICSS defines violent militant attacks as follows: a. ‘Militant Attacks against the government, public, or private targets. These attacks can be against life or property e.g. government installations such as gas pipelines, electricity transmission lines etc.’, b. ‘Militant clashes among different militant groups.’8

The Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) is a research and advocacy organisation, established in Islamabad in 2006.9 PIPS monitors relevant incidents in Pakistan on a daily basis, from sources such as correspondents in the different regions, newspapers, magazines, journals and television news channels. The information is gathered in the PIPS conflict/security database and archives which form the basis for their annual and monthly reports.10 PIPS divides ‘attacks’ into five categories: ‘(i) terrorist attacks including militant attacks, nationalist insurgent attacks and sectarian-related attacks; (ii) incidents of ethno-political violence; (iii) cross-border attacks; (iv) drone attacks; and (v) operational attacks by security forces against militants‘.11 PIPS defines ‘casualties’ as follows: ‘casualties include both the number of people killed and injured’.12

Data of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED)13 has been used for information on security events and fatalities.

ACLED is a project that collects, analyses and maps information on ‘dates, actors, locations, fatalities, and types of all reported political violence and protest events around the world’.14 The EUAA downloaded the ACLED curated data files on South Asia and Asia Pacific, including Pakistan, on 20 March 2026, which are used in this report.

ACLED records six event types: battles, explosions/remote violence, violence against civilians, protests, riots and strategic developments.15

For the analysis of the security situation in Pakistan in this report, only battles, explosions/remote violence and violence against civilians were included as incidents. ACLED uses the following definitions of these event types:

• Battle: ‘a violent interaction between two politically organized armed groups’ which occur ‘at a particular time and location’, ‘between armed and organised state, non-state, and external groups, and in any combination therein’. There is no fatality threshold for an incident to be included. Sub-events associated with ‘battles’ are designated according to the events outcome and consist of ‘armed clash’, ‘government regains territory’, and ‘non-state actor overtakes territory’.16

• Violence against civilians: ‘violent events where an organized armed group deliberately inflicts violence upon unarmed non-combatants’ and includes attempts at inflicting harm (e.g. beating, shooting, torture, rape, mutilation) or forcibly disappearing civilian actors. Sub-events associated with ‘violence against civilians’ are: ‘sexual violence’, ‘attack’, and ‘abduction/forced disappearance’. It should be noted that all violence against civilians do not fall under this category, as civilians can also be harmed as ‘collateral damage’ in ‘explosions’ and ‘battles’ – in such cases a separate civilian-specific event is not recorded, although the number of fatalities is aggravated.17

• Explosions/remote violence: ‘one-sided violent events in which the tool for engaging in conflict creates asymmetry by taking away the ability of the target to respond’. The sub-event types associated with ‘explosions/remote violence’ are ‘chemical weapon’, ‘air/drone strike’, ‘suicide bomb’, ‘shelling/artillery/missile attack’, ‘remote explosive/landmine/IED’, and ‘grenade’.18