January

* 15 January: Poet

Mohsin Naqvi Mohsin Naqvi (10 May 1947 − 15 January 1996) was a Pakistani poet, known for his ghazals. Early life Naqvi was born on 10 May 1947 in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan). His father, Syed Chirag Hussain Shah, was a ...

is assassinated in Moon Market, Lahore.

April

* April 15 — 6 people were killed in bombing in

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

ward clinic's waiting room of then newly built

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre ( ur, , abbreviated as SKMCH&RC/SKMCH) is a cancer centre with locations in Lahore and Peshawar, Pakistan. It is the first project of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charitabl ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. The centre had been planned by cricketer

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

. A day earlier, Khan had announced to form a new

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

against the two existing parties headed by

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

and

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

. Khan told reporters, "It was meant to frighten us but we will fight on. This kind of action cannot stop us." * April 28 — Bhai Pheru bus bombing: 50 people were killed and 26 injured by a bomb in the

fuel tank A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propel ...

of a bus in Bhai Pheru,

Kasur District Kasur District ( Punjabi and ur, , translit=Zilā Qasūr), is a district located in Lahore Division of Punjab, Pakistan. It came into existence on 1 July 1976. Prior to its creation, it was a tehsil of the Lahore District. The district capit ...

, Punjab. Most of the passengers were heading home for celebrating

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's co ...

July

* July 22 — A briefcase bomb killed 9 and wounded 20 people in the old terminal of

Lahore International Airport Allama Iqbal International Airport ( ur, , ) is the third largest civilian airport by traffic in Pakistan, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Islamabad International Airport. It serves Lahore, capital of Punjab and second-larges ...

. This was the 13th bomb of the year and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

blamed

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for orchestrating the bombings.

September

* 18 September — Two bombs exploded in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, killing 1 person and injuring several. Police initially blamed supporters of

Murtaza Bhutto Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto (; 18 September 1954 – 20 September 1996) was a Pakistani politician and leader of al-Zulfiqar, a Pakistani left-wing militant organization. The son of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, he earne ...

, the estranged brother of sacked PM Benazir. Two days later, Murtaza denied the charges and in a few hours, he was killed in a

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

with

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

December

* 3 December — 12 people were injured by a bomb explosion in Lahore outside a busy shopping centre. The explosion occurred during a visit by then Chinese President

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

who was staying in a state guest house along with his counterpart President

Farooq Laghari Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari ( ur, ; 29 May 194020 October 2010), was a Pakistani politician who served as the eighth president of Pakistan from 14 November 1993 until resigning on 2 December 1997. He is the first Baloch to have been elected a ...

. The commissioner of Lahore,

Salman Siddiqui Salman may refer to: People * Salman (name), people with the name Places in Iran * Salman, Khuzestan, a village in Khuzestan Province * Salman, alternate name of Deh-e Salman, Lorestan, a village in Lorestan Province * Salman, Razavi Khorasan, a ...

, said that the act appeared to be of

R&AW The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, a ...

agents. * 3 December — 17 people are injured by a bomb blast in Karachi. The bomb was placed outside a branch of the

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) () is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of September 2020, it has 1,511 branches across Pakist ...

on the ground floor of PIDC building. The bomb also shattered the windows of two nearby hotels, namely

Pearl Continental Pakistan Services Limited, doing business as Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts (also abbreviated to PC Hotels), is the largest chain of five-star hotels in Pakistan with properties in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Gwadar, Bhurban, Muz ...

and Karachi Sheraton.

References

{{Terrorist incidents in Pakistan

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...