A report credits the marked drop to Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategies
Violence-related deaths in Pakistan are down by 66 per cent in 2016 as compared to 2014, according to a yearly report released on Tuesday.
There were a total of 4,324 casualties this year, compared to 6,572 in 2015, the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies revealed. The report credits the marked drop to Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategies such as “Operation Zarb-e-Azb, launched in June, 2014, as well as the extensive urban pacification and political militancy targeting Rangers’ operations in Karachi.”
Majority of the fatalities were reported from one province, Balochistan.
The annual report presents a complex picture of the security situation. While, terrorism was on a downward slope in the rest of Pakistan, it intensified in Punjab and Balochistan, registering an uptick of 10 per cent.
Both of these provinces, the report indicates, were the targets of suicide attacks that increased the casualty count. Four suicide bombings jolted Balochistan in 2016, which left 97 dead, including 52 lawyers.
Residents light candles for lawyers killed in the blast at Civil Hospital in Quetta – Reuters
Pakistani army soldiers arrive at the Balochistan Police Training College in Quetta on October 24, 2016, after militants attacked the police academy – AFP
Deaths from terrorism fell as a whole in the country. Following this trend, fatalities in Karachi, which CRSS identifies as “still the most violent district,” also reduced compared to the previous year.
However, the study shows the nature of the violence morphing last year. Incidents of sectarian and religious strife against minorities surged in Punjab, FATA, and Balochistan.
Troublingly, Lahore suffered the most number of fatalities, 74 dead and 250 injured.
“The highest fatalities were recorded at Gulshan Iqbal Park in Lahore where the Christian community was apparently targeted on their Easter Day festivities.”
Pakistani women mourn the death of relatives after a bomb blast in Lahore on March 27, 2016 – AFP
The think-tank warns that this “momentary and relative reprieve may be fleeting and unsustainable,” concluding that “the government has done next-to-nothing to address the myriad of problems that plague the police departments in Pakistan, or reform the criminal justice system to provide wide-scale relief to the public in a timely, efficient manner.”
