RECORDER REPORT

PESHAWAR: Terrorist violence in FATA increased by 72 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the last quarter of 2016, says FATA Research Centre (FRC) in its report released here on Thursday.

In its quarterly report which was released this week, 69 violent incidents took place during the last quarter -October–December 2016, while 119 such incidents were recorded in the first quarter January–March 2017. Out of these 119 incidents, 57 were terrorist attacks while 62 related to various counter terrorism actions.

Similarly, 54 percent of the terrorist attacks targeted the civilians, while 42 percent were carried out against the security forces. Four percent of the terrorist attacks targeted members of Amn Lashkars in the region.

There was a spike in terms of casualties during the first quarter of 2017, in which 491 casualties were reported compared to 180 casualties during the last quarter of 2016. The casualties included 281 deaths and 210 injured. It was further observed that 50 percent of the total casualties during the first quarter comprised of civilians, while 37 percent casualties related to those of terrorists. 11 percent of the casualties belonged to the security forces and two percent were that of members of Amn lashkars.

In terms of casualties, Kurram Agency remained the most volatile agency of FATA during the outgoing quarter. In total, 212 casualties (69 killed and 143 injured) were recorded from different areas of the agency. Khyber Agency, where military operations are going on, follows the list with 119 casualties. Mohamand Agency remained third with 66 casualties (48 killed and 18 injured). Bajaur and South Waziristan Agency also remained disturbed during the first quarter of 2017 with 32 (13 killed and 19 injured). North Waziristan Agency witnessed a calmer period as terrorist incidents and the resultant casualties decreased as compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, says the report.

Mahsud Taliban (TTP), Jamat-ul-Ahrar remained the dominant terrorist groups during the first quarter 2017 while the preferred mode of terrorists was the use of Improvised Explosive Device (IED). According to the report, 27 IED attacks, 15 incidents of target killings, 10 ambushes, three cross border attacks and two suicide blasts occurred during the first quarter of 2017.

Irfan U Din, Security Analyst at FATA Research Centre said that the surge in violent incidents and resultant casualties in FATA shows that the terrorist outfits are regaining their operational capacity for carrying out their activities across FATA.