93% rise in terror attacks in J&K, says US report

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has experienced an increase of 93 per cent in terror attacks in 2016, said a US State Department in its Country Report on Terrorism.

According to the latest data compiled by the department, India has witnessed the third highest number of terrorist attacks in 2016, more than Pakistan that has slipped to the fourth position.

Iraq with 2,965 terrorist attacks and Afghanistan with 1,340 terrorist attacks, were ranked first and second position respectively, followed by India that recorded 927 attacks and Pakistan at 734 attacks, the department said in its Country Report on Terrorism.

The department said more than half of the terrorist attacks in India in 2016 took place in four states: Jammu and Kashmir at 19 per cent, Chhattisgarh at 18 per cent, Manipur at 12 per cent, and Jharkhand at 10 per cent.

This geographic pattern is relatively stable compared to 2015, with the exception of J&K, which experienced an increase in attacks in 2016, it said.

In its annual report, the department said the number of terrorist attacks has increased by 16 per cent and the total number of deaths has increased by 17 per cent in India in 2016.

Although India ranked third among countries that experienced the most terror attacks in 2016, the lethality of these attacks remained relatively low compared to other countries that also experienced a great deal of terror violence.

On average, terror attacks in India led to 0.4 deaths per attack in 2016, compared to 2.4 deaths per attack worldwide, the report said.

Nearly three-quarters of attacks at 73 per cent in India in 2016 were non-lethal, the report further mentions.

According to the report, a majority of terrorist attacks in India in 2016 involved either bombings or explosions at 47 percent or armed assaults at 18 per cent.

THE DATA SHOWS INDIA HAS WITNESSED THIRD HIGHEST NUMBER OF TERRORIST ATTACKS IN 2016, MORE THAN PAK THAT HAS SLIPPED TO THE FOURTH POSITIO