Wednesday 16 February 2011

Terrorist violence declines in Pakistan

Pakistan witnessed an 11 per cent decrease in the number of terrorism and violence incidents in 2010, according to the fifth annual report from the Pak Institute for Peace Studies . Their annual Pakistan Security Report - the only major source on internal security in Pakistan - puts the decline down to an effective Pakistan Army military campaign in the tribal areas, increased surveillance by the law enforcement agencies and the killing of key terrorists by the US drone strikes in FATA.
The trends vary from province to province. Violent incidents increased in Sindh and Punjab compared to the previous year, but fell dramatically in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's settled areas. The PIPS report criticises the lack of long-term strategy, saying "the government continues to rely almost exclusively on military solutions to the
militancy in FATA."
The report shows that a total of 2,113 militant, insurgent and sectarian-related incidents were reported in 2010, killing 2,913 people and injuring another 5,824. To this total can be added 2,007 people killed in clashes between security forces and militants, 2,631 killed in operational attacks by security forces, 961 killed in drone attacks, 65 killed in border clashes, 660 killed in ethno-political violence and 766 killed in inter-tribal clashes. The total number killed is therefore 10,003 with another 10,283 injured. This compares to 12,623 fatalities in 2009 and another 12,815 injured.
Copies of the full report can be obtained via the PIPS website.

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