Saturday, January 10, 2015

Pakistan - Violence took 7,655 lives in 2014










Pakistan faced a range of internal security issues in 2014, resulting in a wide range of violence, including terrorism, militant attacks, sectarian violence, crimes, target killings, security operations and drone strikes.

Compared to 5,687 deaths in 2013, a total of 7,655 people died in 2014 as a direct result of violence, which is an average increase of about 35%, revealed a survey conducted by Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). The most significant increase in violence was in observed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where fatalities more than doubled from 1,457 in 2013 to 3,399 in 2014. A big reason for this marked increase is the military-led operation Zarb-e-Azb in the North Waziristan Agency of the FATA region. The second largest increase was in Punjab, where death from violence rose from 120 in 2013 to 309 in 2014, a drastic increase of 158%.

Part of this increase in figures may be attributed to the November 2014 bombing of the Wagah border-closing ceremony, which left 60 dead. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) saw a decrease in violence-related deaths, with 945 deaths in 2014, as compared to the 1,031 deaths in 2013. Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) saw the largest decrease in violence-related casualties, at 3 in 2014, from 20 in 2013. The sudden spike from June 2014 onwards is clearly attributable to the start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Deaths from violence accelerated towards the end of the year, pulling significantly ahead of the same month figures from 2013. The last three months in 2014 were especially bloody, with an alarming 258% increase from the same period in 2013.

All in all, compared to the previous year the fatalities from security operations are three times higher, while the fatalities from militant attacks, terrorism and target killings are more than 15% lower this year. Further, 1,498 of the total fatalities were a direct result of terror attacks, of which militant organisations claimed responsibility for 613. Thus, 40.9% of all fatalities attributed to terror attacks were claimed by militant groups. A total of 133 women and 270 children, male and female were also among the fatalities caused by violence of one form or another. In case of educational institutions, 40 schools and 3 colleges were also bombed, while 26 principals, professors and teachers, as well as 143 students were also killed.

The highest fatalities were observed in the district of Karachi, at 2,029. North Waziristan Agency and Khyber Agency in FATA witnessed 1,825 and 1,187 deaths, respectively. The collective deaths in FATA were significantly greater than those in Karachi. KP’s capital city Peshawar had 431 deaths, while Balochistan’s capital Quetta saw 170. The ten highest fatality districts in Pakistan are: Khyber Agency 1,187, Peshawar 431, North Waziristan Agency 1,825, Karachi 2,029, Orakzai 125, Quetta 170, Lahore 64, DI Khan 64, Hangu 73, Turbat 80 and Mohmand Agency 125, the survey revealed.

As may be expected, the largest number of deaths in 2014, well over half in fact were of militants (3,460) and criminals (595). The second largest group to be killed in violence-related incidents was civilians, at 2,395, followed by security officials, at 741. These figures can be contextualized in the wake of the military operation, and the mass exodus of people from the tribal belt, creating the second largest internally displaced persons (IDP) crisis in Pakistan. 186 politicians (including party workers), 52 individuals with religious organisational affiliations, and 9 members of the journalist fraternity were also killed in 2014.

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