January 1 Askari Raza, leader of a Shi'a political organisation Pasban-e-Jaferia, was shot dead in a sectarian-motivated target killing in Karachi by two armed men riding a motorcycle a day earlier. He was accompanied by a friend in his car, who was injured in the attack. The attackers were also said to be injured when two other men accompanying Raza fired in retaliation although they managed to escape safely.[485] At least 15,000 Shi'a protestors staged a sit-in outside the Sindh Governor House on the first day of January to protest the assassination.[486]
January 3 Three blasts took place in three different cities: Gujrat, Peshawar and Landi Kotal (Khyber Agency), killing in total at least five people and injuring dozens others.[487]
January 4 A remote-controlled blast in Sui, Balochistan killed an Amn force guard and injured two other tribesmen.[488]
January 5 The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) murdered 15 Frontier Constabulary soldiers in Orakzai Agency who had been kidnapped and kept in custody for over a year. The bodies were recovered in North Waziristan, sustaining 40 bullets each and also bearing signs of torture. Terming the killings a "new year gift", the TTP called the incident a retaliation for the killing of Taliban comrades earlier by Pakistani security forces, saying that their military operations were against Islam and Pashtun tribal traditions, and vowed further violence. The funeral prayers for the soldiers were offered at an FC headquarters in Peshawar and the bodies buried with honours.[489] The killings were condemned by numerous political figures, including Imran Khan.[490]
January 7 Four people were killed in various sectarian target killing incidents in Gilgit. The government of Gilgit-Baltistan issues shoot-to-kill orders for target killers.[491]
January 9 Ten soldiers who had earlier gone missing in December 2011 after a raid by militants were found dead in the Upper Orakzai area. A lesser known militant group working under the TTP umbrella claimed responsibility for the executions. The bodies were flown to Peshawar, where their funeral prayers were offered. The incident came just days after 15 FC soldiers were killed, also in Orakzai Agency.[492]
January 10 A bomb exploded near a petrol pump in the town of Jamrud near the Afghan border in Khyber Agency, FATA. The bombing killed at least 30 people while over 70 others were critically injured.[493]
Main article: 2012 Khyber Agency bombing
January 12 Baloch Liberation Front insurgents ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops near Turbat, killing fourteen soldiers.[494]
January 12 Over a hundred militants launched an attack on a police checkpost in Sarband, an area on the outskirts of Peshawar. Two policemen were killed and eleven others injured.[495]
January 14 Four suicide bombers sent by the Tehrik-i-Taliban attacked a district police office in Dera Ismail Khan. The suicide bombers had attempted to take over the building and conduct a hostage-type attack although were unsuccessful when security forces managed to contain them in a firefight. Three bombers detonated their explosives, dying instantly, while another was shot dead by troops. Two of the dead bombers were identified as foreigners. Some of the bombers were disguised in police uniforms. Apart from the militants, three civilians and one police official also died in the attack while eight others were injured.[496][497]
January 15 A remote-controlled bomb went off during a Shi'a Muslim Chehlum procession in the tehsil of Khanpur in Rahim Yar Khan District, Punjab. Eighteen people were killed and dozens of others injured from the incident.[498]
Main article: 2012 Rahim Yar Khan bombing
January 18 A regional sales officer at a Warid Telecom franchise outlet in Karachi, Ahsan Kamal, died when two armed men entered the store and attempted to loot it. When Kamal attempted to resist the men, he was shot dead.[499]
January 24 A party activist of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jammat was gunned down in Karachi.[500]
January 25 Three lawyers belonging to the Shi'a sect were killed during a firing incident initiated by unknown gunmen near a city court in Karachi.[501]
January 30 A commander of a banned militant outfit (Ansar-ul-Islam), Haji Akhunzada, and three others were killed following a suicide attack outside the commander's home in the outskirts of Peshawar. According the Akhunzada's son, a rival militant group Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) led by Mangal Bagh Afridi had long been targeting Akhunzada, and had also murdered some his close relatives before, because he "was helping the government against extremist group Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI)."[502]
January 31 One security guard and a woman were killed when unknown terrorists opened fire inside a Telenor franchise in Nazimabad, Karachi.[503]
February 17 A suicide bombing in a bazaar in Parachinar, targeting Shi'a Muslims, killed 41 people.[504] A splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging the local Shi'a community of being involved in activities against them.[505]
Main article: 2012 Parachinar bombing
February 23 A remote control car blast in Peshawar killed at least 12 people and injured 32 people.[506]
Main article: February 2012 Peshawar bombings
February 24 Three suicide bombers attacked a police checkpost in Peshawar, killing four policemen and injuring six. The attack was a reaction to the killing of a top Taliban commander in Waziristan. When the bombers were engaged by the policemen in firing, they blew themselves up.[507]
February 27 A blast after an Awami National Party rally in Nowshera killed seven and injured over twenty others. It was a remote control bomb, parked along with the road side, confirmed by Bomb Disposal Squad.[508]
February 28 Militants ambushed a bus carrying Shi'a Muslims in Kohistan, killing all 18 people on board.[509]
Main article: February 2012 Kohistan Killings
March 11 A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 15 mourners.[510]
March 15 A suicide attack on Thursday killed a senior Pakistani police officer and wounded his bodyguard in the northwestern city of Peshawar.[511]
March 20 A bomb planted in a rickshaw killed two policemen and wounded four other people in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, police and hospital officials said.[512]
March 23 PESHAWAR - A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque on Friday, killing five people in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold on the Afghan border, officials said.[513