With over 10,000 killed in violent incidents across the country in 2010, Pakistan was the most volatile country in the region, pushing war-ravaged Afghanistan — which saw its most lethal year since the beginning of the Global War on Terror in 2001 — to second position in this regard.
As against 7,123 people killed in Afghanistan through the year, 10,003 were killed in Pakistan in incidents of violence and terrorism.
Still, this is an improvement over 2009 when 12,623 fatalities were reported in incidents of violence and terror, according to data collated by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) for its annual Pakistan Security Report.
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The report shows that there was also a decline in casualties among “militants” despite a 165-per-cent increase in drone attacks that are supposed to specifically target terrorists based on intelligence.
“Militants' casualties” fell by 27 per cent since 2009. On the other hand, more civilians lost their life in 2010 than the preceding year as terrorist attacks in the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies increased by 28 per cent despite ongoing military operations in South Waziristan, Bajaur and Orakzai.
Though there has been a significant decline in casualties in incidents of violence in the region stretching from South Asia to West Asia, PIPS conclusion is that it is not indicative of any substantial improvement in the regional security situation on the whole.
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