January 4: Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, is shot by one of his bodyguards near his home. Taseer dies of his wounds soon afterwards.His killer, Malik Mumtaz Qadri  disagreed with Taseer’s opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy law. Salmaan Taseer wasbusinessman and politician who served as the 26th governor of the province of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in early 2011. He was member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Taseer was also the chairman and CEO of the First Capital and Worldcall Group.

January 18: Earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hit Karachi. The epicenter 45 kilometers west of Dalbandin in Balochistan.  The epicenter is located in a sparsely populated area.

January 27: A US diplomat, Raymond Davis, kills two men on a motorbike in Lahore allegedly in self defence while a companion of the diplomat, who is also an American citizen, crushed to death a bike rider in a hit-and-run incident, following the shooting. He works for US private security firm and contractor with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Later on March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the two killed men were paid $2.4 million  as blood money and departed Pakistan.

30 March: The 2nd semifinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was played between India and Pakistan at  Mohali (India). India won the match by 29 runs and qualified for the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final. This match has been perceived by Pakistani former cricketers and fans as a great let down from Pakistan due to their weak fielding and batting despite good talent shown previously from the Pakistani captain and players in the 2011 ICC cup^. The match drew 67.3 million viewers in India alone, and an estimated 150 million viewers worldwide. Three Pakistan citizens, including an actor Liaquat Soldier died out of shock after Pakistan lost the match. Another person was killed and 50 others were injured in aerial firings during the match in Karachi.

May 2: The head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda “Osama bin Laden” was killed in (Abbotabad) Pakistan by a United States special forces military unit. The raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan was launched from Afghanistan.After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden’s body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death.

22 May: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan attacked the Pakistan Naval Station Mehran in karachi.  Aircraft stationed in the base were destroyed using rocket propelled grenades, including a helicopter and two, out of the Pakistan Navy’s four aircrafts. The Zarrar Battalion of the Special Service Group responded to the attack, with the military killing four of a claimed force of 8-20 attackers at a cost of ten of their own men in an operation that lasted 15 hours. The remaining assailants are believed to have been captured or escaped and an unexploded suicide jacket and live grenades were recovered after the operations

May 24: Hakim Ali Zardari, father of President Asif Ali Zardari died at the age of 81 years at a private ward in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital in Islamabad. He was a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the country’s largest political party. He entered politics in 1965, helping in the campaign of Fatima Jinnah, the sister of the founder of Pakistan, against the then military dictator Gen Ayub Khan. He was member parliament thrice and also served as a federal minister twice.

November 22: Husain Haqqani resigned as Pakistan Ambassador to the United States following claims of his alleged affiliation with the Memogate  (controversy about an alleged Pakistani memo seeking the help of the US Government)

November 26: A NATO attack on two Pakistani border checkposts in Salala in the Baizai subdivision of Mohmand Agency in FATA kill 24 soldiers of the Pakistan Army. This attack resulted in a deterioration of relations between Pakistan and the United States. The Pakistani public reacted with protests all over the country and the government took measures adversely affecting the US exit strategic from Afghanistan including the evacuation of Shamsi Airfield and closure of the NATO supply line.