LAHORE: The year 2009 has proved to be the bloodiest one for the people of Pakistan since Islamabad joined hands with Washington in the war on terror as the unending spate of lethal suicide bombings killed 1217 innocent people and injured 2305 others in 80 bloody attacks carried out by human bombs in the 12 months of 2009 [till December 29].
According to figures compiled by the Pakistani ministry of interior, 2009 proved to be the bloodiest year in terms of the number of suicide hits and the subsequent death toll since the 9/11 episode, especially after the Lal Masjid operation carried out by the Army in July 2007. The official data shows that the people of Pakistan suffered 80 suicide bombings in 2009 [till December 29], which killed 1217 people compared with 66 such assaults in 2008 that killed 965 people. On average, the human bombs killed 101 people a month in 2009, compared with the last year’s average of 80 killings a month.
Of the 1217 innocent Pakistanis who lost their lives in suicide bombings in 2009, the number of civilian casualties stood at 863 while the remaining 354 martyred belonged to the security and law enforcement agencies. Of them, 137 belonged to the Police, 102 were army officers and jawans, 51 were the Frontier Constabulary personnel, 28 were staff members of the Inter Services Intelligence, 22 belonged to the Khasadar Force, 12 belonged to the Pakistan Rangers and two others were employees of the Pakistan Navy. On average, around 72 civilians and 30 security and law enforcement agencies personnel lost their lives every month in 2009 due to suicide bombings.
High ups in the law enforcement agencies point out the pertinent fact that it was in the aftermath of the Operation Silence conducted against the Lal Masjid clerics that a series of deadly suicide attacks rocked the four provinces of Pakistan as well as the federal capital, Islamabad. The dangerous trend of suicide strikes, targeting the security and law enforcement agencies, touched alarming heights in 2007, averaging more than one attack a week as the establishment gradually lost control of the extremist jehadi networks and their leaders which had allegedly been nurtured to advance its geo-strategic agenda.
Terrorism experts agree that Pakistan has been turned into the suicide bombing capital of the world, especially in the aftermath of the Lal Masjid action, with the security forces, especially the Army and the police, frequently being targeted by human bombs, killing a total of 2749 people in 190 such incidents since July 2007. Look at the casualty figures for the Pakistani security forces since then: over 1000 members of the armed forces, Frontier Constabulary and police had been killed by human bombs across Pakistan between July 3, 2007 [the day the Operation Silence was launched]and December 29, 2009.
While Benazir Bhutto’s tragic assassination on December 27 was the most high-profile suicide hit of the year 2007, the people of Pakistan suffered 56 incidents of suicide bombings during that year, mostly targeting the security forces. Benazir’s murder by a sharp shooter, followed by a suicide bombing, represented the peak of the rising phenomenon of suicide hits going on in Pakistan since the beginning of 2007. The previous attempt to kill her on October 18, 2007 in Karachi was also carried out by a suicide bomber who blew himself up near Bhutto’s truck during her welcome procession which she was leading from the airport upon her return home after spending eight years in self-exile.
The suicide bomber failed in his primary mission of killing Bhutto but he did kill over 140 others, mostly PPP supporters. But, it was rare for an individual human bomb to kill over 140 people with a single strike. Before the October attack 18, the deadliest suicide attack carried out anywhere in the world was the one that killed 133 people in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on February 3, 2007 when a bomber had detonated an explosive-laden truck at a busy market place. Figures compiled by the ministry of interior show that there was almost a ten-fold increase in the suicide bombings in 2007 as compared to 2006. There were 56 suicide attacks in 2007, killing 837 people and wounding 1,227 others.
Since then, suicide bombings have been taking place non-stop in almost every nook and corner of Pakistan, thus taking the ensuing death toll to new heights every year. As per the interior ministry records, the number of suicide hits rose from 56 in 2007 to 66 in 2008, killing 965 people during that year compared with the 837 people killed by human bombs in 2007. The suicide bombers killed at least 80 people a month on average in 2008, compared with the previous year’s average of 70 killings per month. Of the 965 people martyred by human bombs in the 12 months of 2008, the number of civilian casualties stood at 651 while the number of security and law enforcement agencies’ personnel who lost their lives at the hands of human bombs was 159. On an average, 55 civilians and 26 security and law enforcement agencies’ personnel were killed every month in the 12 months of 2008.
But unfortunately enough, the year 2009 has broken all the previous records of terrorism in Pakistan since 9/11, especially in terms of the number of suicide bombings and the ensuing death toll. Of the 80 suicide bombings of the year 2009 [till December 29], which claimed 1217 lives besides wounding 2305 others, 38 took place in the first seven months till August 4 while the rest of the 42 assaults were carried out in the aftermath of the August 5, 2009 death of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone attack in the trouble-stricken South Waziristan region.
According to available facts and figures, 11 people were killed and 52 injured in three incidents of suicide bombings in January 2009, 76 people lost their lives and 245 wounded in seven incidents in February, 126 were killed and 156 injured seven more bombings in March, 108 persons were killed and 120 wounded in five attacks in April, 66 lost their lives and 67 wounded in eight such attacks in May, 96 were killed and 279 injured in five attacks in June, 12 people were killed and 43 injured in three suicide hits in July, 48 lost their lives and 46 wounded in five incidents in August, 75 people were killed and 160 injured in three incidents in September, 184 lost their lives and 198 wounded in nine bombings in October while 159 more people were killed and 420 injured in 11 suicide bombings in the month of November. However, December 2009 has proved to be the bloodiest one so far in terms of the number of suicide attacks and the subsequent death toll, as 256 people lost their lives in 14 suicide attacks that have taken place till December 29, 2009.
On average, more than six suicide attacks were carried out and 101 people killed every month in 2009. The weekly average for those who lost their lives in such attacks comes to 23 while the daily average is calculated at over three persons a day. The fidayeen attacks targeting the security and law enforcement agencies were the new phenomenon introduced by the Pakistani Taliban in 2009, as they attacked a Police Training School in Manawan, followed by another assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Since then, several fidayeen attacks have been carried out in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, especially the one targeting Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on October 10 which killed 20 people, followed by yet another fidayeen attack targeting the parade ground mosque in Rawalpindi on December 4, 2009 that killed 44 people.
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