ISLAMABAD: Pakistan witnessed a 51 per cent decrease in violence-related fatalities in the second quarter of 2018 when compared to the average number of 511.5 fatalities per quarter in 2017.
These findings were shared in the attached Quarterly Security Report by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) released here on Monday.
A total of 250 people lost their lives and 271 suffered injuries from various forms of violence that were recorded during the second quarter of 2018. Among all regions of the country, Balochistan suffered the highest number of casualties followed by Federaly Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh and Punjab.
Thirty people were the victims of sectarian violence during this quarter, including 17 fatalities and 13 injuries.
Every province or region showed an improving situation, except the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where fatalities increased by 48 per cent.
At the district level, the situation is not as straightforward. While provincial capitals like Quetta and Peshawar reflected no major decline in violence, Lahore and Karachi recorded a significant drop.
A total of 47 districts reported fatalities from violence in the first quarter of 2018, which dropped to 45 in the second quarter. Karachi and Quetta remained the most violent districts in the country, followed by North Waziristan, and South Waziristan.
The number of militant fatalities dropped to 77 in the second quarter of 2018 from 89 in the first quarter. In contrast, the security official’s fatalities dropped to 61 in this quarter from 74 in the first quarter of 2018. Civilian fatalities also declined from 120 to 112 in the ongoing quarter.
The militant groups that claimed responsibility for terror attacks in the country during this quarter were Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), accounting for 8 fatalities, followed by TTP-Jamat-ul-Ahrar, Daish and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
