Drone attacks in Fata up by 165 percent in 2010: urban terrorism growing: PIPS

US drones attacks in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) registered 165 percent increase in 2010 as compared to the previous year despite the number of suicide attacks across the country fell by 22 percent against the number of 2009, a think tank report said.
The report of Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) to be released on Monday says that county witnessed an 11 percent decrease in the number of incidents of violence and terrorism in 2010 as compared to the previous year.
However, violent incidents increased in Sindh, Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan in 2010 as compared to the previous year, indicating growing urban terrorism in Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) was the third most volatile region of the country with 459 attacks; while 111 attacks were reported in Sindh, 62 in Punjab, 13 in Gilgit Baltistan, six in Islamabad and five in Azad Kashmir.
A total of 2,113 militant, insurgent and sectarian-related terrorist attacks were reported from across the country in 2010, killing 2,913 people and injuring another 5,824. The worst affected region of the country was the insurgency-hit province of Balochistan where the highest number of attacks was reported (737), followed by the militancy-infested Federally Administered Tribal Areas (720).
The report maintains that there was a considerable decrease in the number of violent attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KPK) settled areas. However, the security situation remained volatile as militants dislodged from their strongholds constantly managed to relocate to other parts of FATA. "In the absence of a comprehensive long-term strategy, the government continues to rely almost exclusively on military solutions to the militancy in FATA," the report said.
Rule of law is a critical element of good governance, which is lacking not only in KPK and FATA but across the country. According to World Justice Project (WJP) rule of law index 2010, Pakistan is among the countries where rule of law is sorely lacking. The latest Funds for Peace failed states index ranks Pakistan as the 10th most poorly governed state on account of poor governance as well as security.
The internal security scenario indicates that critical security challenges still remain unaddressed, with the government yet to evolve an effective and comprehensive counter-terrorism policy. "Better co-ordination among intelligence agencies, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, curbs on terrorism financing and, most importantly, adequate measures to prevent banned militant groups from operating across the country remained persistently lacking," the report states.
Failure to address the growing ethno-political and sectarian intolerance and the influence of militants in Karachi as well as the continuing alienation and radicalisation of a largely young and poor population in South Punjab have compounded the problem. The military is mainly relying on a 'hit, hold, build and clear' strategy. The holding and rebuilding parts of this strategy cannot succeed without public support and partnership, better co-ordination among federal and provincial governments and availability of adequate resources.
Pakistan witnessed an overall decrease in the number of violent incidents in 2010, the first time that had happened since 2007. A total of 3,393 attacks were reported in 2010 compared to 3,816 in 2009, a decrease of 11 percent. Similarly, the overall casualties also went down, from 12,623 fatalities in 2009 to 10,003 in 2010. The number of people injured in these attacks also declined from 12,815 in 2009 to 10,283 in 2010. The number of suicide attacks across the country also fell by 22 percent in comparison with 2009, with 68 suicide attacks in 2010, compared to 87 the previous year.