A solid decline in target killings in Peshawar and other districts with 22 cases being reported during 2017
The claims of improving Law and Order Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was one of the basic election slogans of the Pakistan Tehreek -e-Insaf while running the election campaign in 2013.
Since PTI formed govt formed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a clear decline in terrorist attacks has been witnessed as compared to the previous year’s statistics.
Despite the improvement in the last few years, the number of terrorist attacks having been halved while the suicide attacks have risen slightly.
According to the statistics by Counter Terrorism Department, there has been a 43% decrease in the number of terrorist incidents in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with 42 incidents reported during the last year as against 68 episodes during 2016.
The terrorist attacks across the province claimed a total of 65 lives, 36 of which were civilian and 149 individuals were injured, of which 44 were police officers.
As per the released report by CTD, there has been a 50% decrease in the total number of IED blasts, as only 11 such incidents were recorded in the year 2017 so far compared to 22 recorded in the same period last year.
A month back after Apex Committee KP meeting, Pakistan Army decided to the withdrawal of forces from various parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), with preparations underway to prepare civilian law enforcement agencies to helm the law-and-order management in these areas, particularly in Malakand.
Last year terror attacks were target additional inspector general (AIG) Ashraf Noor, in Hayatabad, in a suicide attack claimed by ISIS-Khorasan.
The latest series of attacks on law enforcement agencies and the judiciary within a span of seven days shattered the weak ray of hope for peace in the province, which appeared in 2016 after a decade of sustained violence.
The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database recorded the overall fatalities recorded a 20.52 and 43 percent decrease in 2016 and 2017 respectively in comparison to the previous year,
The situation has come to head after witnessing, no day passes by when there is a suicide bomb blast, target killing or kidnapping for ransom. KP was like a haven for all the anti-social elements from all over the world.
However, KP has invested immensely into the law enforcement apparatus as the incumbent government has increased investment in the law and order sector at a disproportionally higher percentage as compared to other sectors.
Security apparatus are required in tribal areas like KPK in order to curb the issues of deterioration of law and order in vulnerable areas. There is a need of capacity building of intelligence agencies also there is a need for coordination among various agencies and law departments.
In November 2017, the KP Apex Committee, which is the highest decision-making authority of the province, has discussed the transition and strategy of transferring the law-and-order management from military to civilian law enforcement agencies as the security situation is satisfactory now.