ISLAMABAD, June 17: The government on Thursday said that 330 people lost their life in 82 incidents of terrorism in the country during the past one and a half year.
In a written response to a question by MNA Asif Tauseef, Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told the National Assembly that the largest number of terrorist incidents took place in the Sindh province.
Information placed before the House showed that in 62 incidents of terrorism, which rocked Sindh during the last 18 months, 109 people lost their life. Of these 61 incidents, 47 took place in Karachi, eight in Hyderabad, four in Dadu and one each in Thatta and Khairpur.
In Balochistan, four incidents of terrorism, including three in Quetta and one in Sibi, claimed 102 lives. In the five incidents of terrorism in Punjab, 19 people lost their life.
According to the interior ministry, in 11 incidents of terrorism in NWFP, no loss of life took place, while the provincial government reported no loss of property. In response to a question by MNA Riaz Fatiana about the number of foreigners detained in the country, the interior minister informed the House that 1,623 foreigners were detained in jails on various charges.
The largest population of the foreigners is detained in eight jails of Sindh which includes 281 convicts, 756 under-trial prisoners and 46 internees. In Punjab, 99 foreigners have been convicted while 181 are under trial and 155 internees.
The prisons in NWFP hold 20 foreign convicts and 12 under- trial prisoners. The jails in Balochistan have 31 foreign convicts, eight under-trial prisoners and 38 internees.
The interior minister told the House that the foreigners were repatriated after completion of sentence and availability of their valid travel documents and air tickets.
In reply to a question about the detail and value of items confiscated in anti-smuggling operations by different law- enforcement agencies since 1999, the interior minister informed the House that narcotics and contraband goods worth more than Rs7.6 billion were seized during the last six years.
In the anti-smuggling operations performed along the borders with Iran, Afghanistan, India and China, the government had deputed Frontier Corps, NWFP, Frontier Corps, Balochistan, Pakistan Rangers, Punjab, Pakistan Rangers, Sindh and Pakistan Coast Guards to control smuggling.
