Islamic State rising in Pakistan: Report

ISLAMABAD : The activities of the Islamic State are on the rise in S ind hand Ba loch is tan provinces of Pakistan but most of the terror attacks in the country in 2017 were carried out by the Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP ), according to a new report from a think tank.

The Pakistan Security Report 2017, released by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies( PI PS) on Sunday, said the IS claimed responsibility for six of the deadlie st attacks that killed 153 people.

“The IS has claimed responsibility for just six terrorist attacks in the country, but they were the most deadliest ones, such as attacks on the convoy of Senate deputy chairman Abdul Ghafo or Haideri, Sehwan shrine, Shah No ora ni shrine in Las bel a, Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in Quetta and Dargah Pir Rakhyal Shah in Fatehpur area of Jhal Magsi district and the abduction and killing of two Chinese nationals ,” PIPS official Muhammad Is mail Khan told the Dawn newspaper.

“There is a need to take the matter more seriously because there is a possibility that foreign fighters would come to Pakistan in near future as things are continuously changing in the Middle East,” he added.

The report further said that despite a 16% decline in terror attacks in 2017 as compared to the previous year, the TTP and its affiliates posed the strongest threat, followed by separatist groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front.

The report said such realities require concerted efforts and a revision of the controversial National Action Plan, which was framed by the government to fight terror after Taliban fighters killed nearly 150 people in an attack on an army-run school.