Home TRENDING IN SEPTEMBER, THE NUMBER OF CIVILIANS KILLED BY TERRORIST STRIKES ROSE BY...

IN SEPTEMBER, THE NUMBER OF CIVILIANS KILLED BY TERRORIST STRIKES ROSE BY 100%.

IN SEPTEMBER, THE NUMBER OF CIVILIANS KILLED BY TERRORIST STRIKES ROSE BY 100%.

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ISLAMABAD:
According to a report released by an Islamabad-based think organization, 136 people were killed in 65 separate militant assaults across Pakistan in September.

There was a noticeable 34% decrease in the number of attacks in September compared to August. PHOTO: ANADOLU AGENCY

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) reports that 144 persons were injured in the past month; this number includes both civilians and security personnel as well as militants.

The number of attacks dropped by 34% compared to August, while the number of fatalities rose by 21% and the number of injuries rose by a startling 66%.

With 23 attacks, 34 deaths, and 78 injuries, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) became the most attacked area. “On the other hand, in Balochistan, there was a dramatic increase in fatalities, largely as a result of a single attack in Mastung,” it said.

Civilians made up 62% of the total number of fatalities across the country, while security troops and attacking militants each accounted for 19%. A majority (53%) of those hurt were innocent bystanders, while 29% were militants on the offensive, and 17% were members of the security forces.

At least 55 people were killed and dozens more were injured when a bomb went off during an Eid Miladun Nabi parade in the Mastung province of Balochistan on Friday.

At least four troops were killed in a terror strike carried out on September 6 in the Chitral area of K-P near the Afghan border by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomeration of multiple militant organisations.

There were three suicide bombs reported in the country last month, killing a total of 26 people (10 of them were military).

According to the report, there were 18 guerilla attacks and 12 events involving IEDs.

The Pakistani military’s increased efforts against militants are also a major factor in the drop in assaults’ frequency.

According to the report, the military conducted 37 operations, resulting in the deaths of 47 suspected militants and the capture of 46 others.

Measures used against extremists

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti blamed the Indian intelligence agency Research Analysis Wing (RAW) for the attack and threatened a comprehensive campaign to reestablish state authority, including targeting not only terrorists but also their facilitators and supporters.

Gen. Asim Munir, the head of the Pakistani Army, claimed that the militant organisations were proxies for Pakistan’s enemies and that they would be met with the full might of the state and security services.

Since joining the US in the war against terrorism after the ousting of the first Afghan Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001, the South Asian country has been coping with a surge of terrorist assaults.

Terrorism has murdered over 80,000 people, including civilians, security forces, and police, mostly in K-P and Balochistan, and there appears to be no end in sight.

Islamabad blames Kabul for the recent spate of terror incidents, saying that Afghan land is being used by the TTP to launch assaults inside Pakistan.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, denies the charge.

The Taliban in Afghanistan, meanwhile, have recently been accused of cracking down on TTP members in the eastern districts of Kunar and Nuristan, leading to the arrest of some 200 terrorists, according to media sources.

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