‘Clear’ decrease in sectarian, other forms of terrorism in country, says NACTA report

ISLAMABAD: There has been a “clear” decrease in sectarian violence in the country in the current year from the 2012-2014 period, terrorist acts have significantly gone down and the communication network of terrorists has been destroyed, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) chairman Ihsan Ghani informed the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Ghani, while presenting a report on the National Action Plan (NAP) in the NA Standing Committee on Interior, said that 37 incidents of sectarian violence and 426 acts of terrorism took place in the country this year. In the latest US country report, India ranks higher in terrorism cases, with Pakistan down at the fourth place, the report says.

The report highlights various steps taken to clamp down on terrorism and terrorist networks in the country: 98.3 million SIMs were blocked and a biometric verification system for SIM verification has also been implemented in the country, said the report. Multiple passports of suspects were also blocked, it stated further.

Militancy in Punjab has significantly reduced in the rural areas, the lawmakers were told.

Ghani said that search operations using intelligence sharing were conducted in cooperation with provinces to eliminate armed militias. Special units in all provinces have been established to prevent monetary support of terrorists, the report said.

The report further states that 8,333 people have been placed on the fourth schedule, 5,023 accounts were frozen countrywide, and an amount of Rs300 million was frozen. 

Sixty-six organisations are banned in Pakistan while the United Nations has banned 164 organisations in the country, the report states.

Terming the Karachi Operation a part of NAP, Ghani said that terrorism in Karachi has gone down by 98%, target killing tanked by 97% and robberies decreased by 52% in the city. Murder was down by 87% in the city, the report said.

According to the report, 1,353 FIRs were filed against hate speech, while 17,000 cases were lodged against violation of laws relating to loudspeakers.

Commenting on other initiatives taken by NACTA, Ghani said that the authority is analysing the quality of prosecution in terrorism cases, for which it has asked for details of terrorism cases from all provinces. The authority plans to study the cases and coordinate with provinces to improve prosecution, if need be.

The NACTA is also carrying out a study on the excess number of prison inmates, said Ghani.

Expanding on the authority’s performance, he said that NACTA was given Rs1528.727 million in the current year's budget, while the authority has held 31 meetings till now.