Non-state actors’ attacks, abuses contributed to human rights problems in Pakistan

The US State Department’s annual country report on human rights pointed out that terrorist violence and human rights abuses by non-state actors contributed to human rights problems in Pakistan. However, it cited another report that terrorism fatalities decreased by almost 40 per cent between 2016 and 2017,

It noted that at the end of October 2017, terrorism fatalities in Pakistan stood at 1,084, in comparison with 1,803 fatalities in the full year 2016.
The data, collected for the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), indicated a 39.878 per cent decrease, which would have improved further if data for the last two months of 2017 were also included.
“The military sustained significant campaigns against militant and terrorist groups. Nevertheless, violence, abuse, and social and religious intolerance by militant organisations and other non-state actors, both local and foreign, contributed to a culture of lawlessness in some parts of the country,” the report adds. This was more obvious in Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).