Pakistan: Terrorists make Deadly Month in a decade
A think tank said on Thursday that more than 100 fatal attacks in Pakistan by Islamist terrorists and separatist rebels, Islamist terrorists and separatist rebels made the deadliest in a decade in a decade.
According to a report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICS) think tank, 228 of the deaths were due to terrorist groups. They included 73 security services members, including soldiers and police officers, 67 civilians and 88 terrorists.
Who are terrorist groups?
Islamist-Militant Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and separatist rebels Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was the main terrorist group responsible for the attacks.
Bla was responsible for the 28-hour kidnapping of the train Jaffer Express in Balochistan southwest. Some 450 people were taken hostage and more than two dozen were killed.
What are the most affected areas?
Balochistan was the most affected province, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north -west of Pakistan.
Both of them are also aiming for suicide bombings, a form of increased attacks in March.
In the eastern province of Punjab, India, the think tank saw a strong growth in extremist activity.
At least seven attacks were recorded, and most were attributed to TTP.
In response to the increasing threat, Pakistan’s security forces have intensified their operations in the region. Many people have been arrested with connections to terrorist groups including TTP.
What are the results of rising violence?
Islamabad claims that most of the attacks by both terrorists and rebels are planned and executed from Afghanistan. It accuses the neighboring country of planning and organizing Pakistani terrorists of attacking and organizing attacks.
A recent United Nations report supported the claim. It said that the Taliban assisted TTP and some attacks were started from the Afghan region.
As a result, the Pakistani government has urged the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan to work against allegedly responsible criminals. On the other hand, Kabul denied that the terrorists were in Afghanistan.
