–Home Office assessment report says military operations have curbed militant activities in country
A report by the United Kingdom (UK) Home Office said that military-led operations in Pakistan were successful in curbing the militant activity and Pakistan’s security situation has improved in 2018, as compared to recent years.
It also argued that the stabilising situation in Karachi is a contributing factor for the improved security scenario.
The report was based on the Home Office’s own assessment as well as information gathered from media and various country reports.
According to the report, between 2014 and 2017, the total number of violence-related fatalities declined by over 73 per cent from 7,655 fatalities in 2014 to 2,057 in 2017 and the number of fatalities in the first 3 quarters of 2018 (930) compared to the same period in 2017 (1,585) decreased by 41 per cent.
The report further said that total 66 militant and affiliate supporter organisations were banned from 2001 to 2018. These include Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) Sipah-i-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) Laskar-e-T ayyiba (LeT) Sipah-i -Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) Tehrik-e-Jaffria Pakistan (TJP) Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammad (TNSM) Tehreek-e-lslami Al-Qa’ida Millat-e-lslamia Pakistan and dozens of other groups.
The report came days after a United States intelligence official accused Pakistan of providing “safe havens to terror outfits” in a threat assessment report before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The report had alleged that Pakistan continues to provide safe havens to terrorists “to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan, including against US interests”. It also accused Islamabad of “using some groups as policy tools and confronting only the militant groups that directly threaten Pakistan”.
