Casualties in terrorist attacks in KP dropped by 93pc compared to 2009

PESHAWAR: The casualties in terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have gone down to seven percent compared with the statistics for 2009 as the law and order situation has recorded significant improvement.

Though there is still an element of fear as threat alerts about terrorist attacks in different parts of the province keep coming, one can heave a sigh of relief after an improvement in the law and order.

The police have started a security audit of educational institutions and other important buildings after fresh threats of terrorist attacks.

However, the number of casualties in attacks shows the threat level has reduced significantly over the last few years, especially after 2015.

“A total of 70 people were martyred and 220 sustained injuries in terrorist attacks in KP in 2018.

The number of those martyred in 2009 was 976 while 2,929 others had sustained injuries,” a source quoted from the official statistics compiled by the KP Police.

The source said the number of those martyred in 2018 was 7.17 percent of the deaths reported in 2009. The number of those injured in 2018 was 7.51 percent of the injuries caused in 2009.

“This is because of the actions by police in the settled districts and army in the erstwhile Fata that the situation has improved to over 90 percent (as per the statistics of casualties) in the last almost a decade,” Waqar Ahmad, the director public relations of the KP Police, told The News when asked about the factors of improved law and order.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed worst law and order situation in the last almost 15 years.

Apart from suicide bombings and bomb blasts, thousands of people lost their lives or sustained critical injuries in target killings, rocket attacks and other terrorist incidents. The people of the province heaved a sigh of relief after the situation started improving in 2015.

According to the official statistics, 976 people were martyred in terrorist incidents while 2,929 sustained injuries in 2009, 492 lost their lives and 1,367 were wounded in 2010 and 689 people died and 1,430 were wounded in 2011. These three years were the worst for the province with a maximum number of terrorist attacks.

As many as 302 people were martyred and 1,038 were wounded in terrorist attacks in 2012, 621 died and 1,597 sustained injuries in 2013 while 461 died and 946 were injured in 2014.

The number of those martyred in terrorist attacks came down to 157 in 2015 while those wounded totalled 307.

In 2016 the number of the dead was 181 and 409 were injured. In 2017 those martyred numbered 75 while 194 were injured. And in 2018, the citizens who lost their lives in acts of violence were 70 while 220 sustained injuries.