ISLAMABAD: As many as 250 people lost their lives and 271 suffered injuries from various forms of violence in the country during the second quarter of 2018 from April to June.

A report by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) released on Monday claimed that Pakistan had witnessed a 51pc decrease in violence-related fatalities when compared with the average number of 511.5 fatalities per quarter in 2017.

Security situation in every province or region has shown an improvement, except for erstwhile Fata, where fatalities increased to 55 in second quarter as against 30 of first quarter of this year.

Among the casualties in tribal areas, 30 were the victims of sectarian violence, including 17 fatalities and 13 injuries.

Although Balochistan suffered the highest number of casualties, i.e 73, among all regions of the country followed by Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh and Punjab, the figure was still below the 75 of first quarter.

The report claimed that the situation at the district level was not as straightforward.

A total of 47 districts reported fatalities from violence in first quarter of 2018, which dropped to 45 in second quarter of current year. Karachi and Quetta remained the most violent district in the country, followed by North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

The number of militant fatalities dropped to 77 in second quarter from 89 in first quarter of 2018. Security official’s fatalities dropped to 61 in second quarter from 74 in first quarter.

Civilian fatalities also declined from 120 in first quarter to 112 in second quarter.

The militant groups that claimed responsibility for terror attacks in the country during this quarter were Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), accounting for eight fatalities, followed by TTP-Jamat ul Ahrar, Daish and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the report claims.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2018