2009 was Pakistan’s bloodiest year

In the year gone by, at least 3 persons have been killed every day in Pakistan by terrorist attacks.

A spate of 80 bloody attacks, many carried out by human bombs, over the year (till December 30) has killed 1,217 innocent people and injured 2,305 over the course of 2009, at an average of 101 deaths per month. This makes 2009 the bloodiest year for Pakistan ever since Islamabad joined hands with Washington in the war on terror after 9/11.

In comparison, there were 66 attacks in 2008 and loss of 965 lives, including 651 civilians, averaging 80 deaths per month. The year 2007 saw even fewer deaths: 56 attacks with a loss of 837 lives. But this was the year that witnessed the infamous Lal Masjid siege where over 100 people were killed after security forces stormed the famous red mosque in Islamabad that had been taken over by radicals.

Of the 1217 Pakistanis killed in 2009, civilian casualties stood at 863 while the remaining 354 were from the country’s security and law enforcement agencies. The majority of the latter were from the police (137) followed by 102 casualties who were either army officers or soldiers; the rest were from other services.

This year, there was spurt in the attacks towards from August onwards. While 38 attacks took place till August 2009, 42 assaults were carried after Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack on August 5. Mehsud died in South Waziristan.