Afghanistan Records a 58% Drop while Terror-Related Deaths in Pakistan Reach Record Highs

According to a recent study, Pakistan saw the second-largest increase in terrorism-related fatalities globally in 2022, with 643, a 120% increase from 292 fatalities the year before.

The yearly Global Terrorism Index (GTI), published by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace, found that Pakistan surpassed Afghanistan as the nation with the most terrorist strikes and fatalities in South Asia in 2018. Afghanistan had held this place since 2017. (IEP).

Globally, Burkina Faso had the highest mortality rate, rising from 759 to 1,135 in 2022.

Despite assaults declining by 75% and fatalities declining by 58% in 2022, the GTI stated that Afghanistan remained the nation “most impacted” by terrorism for the fourth straight year. The GTI reported that 633 people died in Afghanistan in 2022.

According to the report, “GTI is a composite measure made up of four indicators: incidents, fatalities, injuries, and hostages.” It also states that a five-year “weighted average”—a calculation that accounts for varying degrees of importance of the numbers in a data set—is used to measure the “impact of terrorism” within a specific country.

According to the study, the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan following the collapse of Kabul in August 2021 is primarily to blame for the country’s decline. The Taliban are now the dominant political force in most of Afghanistan, so their actions do not qualify as terrorism under the GTI description.

According to the study, Afghanistan accounted for about 9% of all terrorism-related fatalities globally in 2022, down from the 20% reported the year before.

Following the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan, Islamic State-Khorasan has become “the most active terrorist group” there, murdering 422 people in 2022 and taking nearly 67% of all fatalities from terrorism in that year.

With 55% of all casualties of terrorism being military troops, Pakistan experienced the greatest year-over-year rise in deaths in the past ten years. Due to the steep rise in deaths, the South Asian country rose four spots to rank sixth on the index, per the GTI.

The GTI noted that the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) had surpassed the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, as the deadliest terrorist group in the nation, accounting for 36% or a third of terror-related deaths in Pakistan, a ninefold increase from the year prior.

“As a consequence, the BLA’s fatality rate rose to its peak, with the group’s assaults murdering 7.7 people on average per attack in 2022 as opposed to 1.5 people per attack in 2021. 95% of the 233 BLA-related fatalities in 2022 were military members.

The Baluch Liberation Army (BLA) claims to be battling for the freedom of the Baluchistan province, which neighbors Iran and Afghanistan. It accuses the Pakistani government of exploiting the area’s natural resources and discriminating against its Baluch people. Islamabad denies the accusations.

Both the BLA and TTP have been labeled as terrorist groups by Pakistan, the US, and the UK.

According to the GTI, 63% of assaults and 74% of fatalities are still committed in the region that straddles Pakistan’s boundary with Afghanistan.

The increase in fatalities across the country is the result of increased terrorist activity by the TTP and the area branch of the Islamic State terror organization, Islamic State-Khorasan.

To create an Islamic state that complies with Sharia law, similar to the one the extreme Taliban have established in Afghanistan, the TTP has waged terrorist assaults against Pakistani security forces.

An branch and close associate of the Afghan Taliban is the Pakistani Taliban. Its officials and officers reportedly plan cross-border attacks from their headquarters in Afghanistan.

“Terrorist activity will probably continue along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border despite counterterrorism efforts,” said Steve Killelea, the founder and chairman of IEP. “Now that the Taliban are in control of neighboring Afghanistan and reports suggest that leaders of terrorist groups such as TTP are using Afghanistan as a haven.”

The de facto authorities dispute accusations that the Taliban leaders failed to curtail the TTP and other foreign terrorist organizations’ operations on Afghan territory as promised in their security promises.