Pakistan over take Afghanistan in Global Terrorism index

Report released by an Australian institute of Economics and Pease

The annual Global Terrorism Index report released by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace stated that Pakistan has surpassed Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of terrorist attacks and deaths in South Asia. Last year, Pakistan experienced the world's second-largest increase in terror-related deaths, with the death toll rising significantly to 643. Pakistan experienced the highest year-on-year increase in deaths in the last decade. At least 55% of all terrorist victims were military personnel. According to the report, it has risen four places to sixth place on the index due to a sharp increase in fatalities.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was responsible for 36% of terror-related deaths in Pakistan, a ninefold increase from the previous year. According to the report, the BLA has surpassed the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban, as the deadliest terror group in Pakistan. 

The BLA's lethality rate has reached an all-time high, with attacks killing 7.7 people per attack in 2022, up from 1.5 per attack the previous year. In 2022, 95 percent of the 233 deaths associated with BLA were military personnel. 

The BLA claims to be fighting for the independence of the Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. The BLA and TTP have both been designated as terrorist organisations by Pakistan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

According to the Global Terrorism Index, terrorism remains primarily concentrated along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, accounting for 63% of attacks and 74% of deaths. According to the report, the increase in terror activities by the TTP and the Islamic State Khorasan has contributed to the increase in national deaths.

The TTP has been waging terrorist attacks against Pakistani security forces to seek an Islamic Sharia-compliant state like the radical Taliban have established in Afghanistan.