2010, bloodiest year for Pakistan

The year 2010 has proven to be the bloodiest for the people of Pakistan since 2001, as the unending spate of lethal suicide bombings in almost every nook and corner of the country has killed 1271 innocent Pakistanis and injured 2237 others in 53 gory attacks between January 1 and December 25, 2010.

Even though the incidents of suicide attacks have gone down by 35% this year since last year’s number of 80 suicide attacks, 2010 still remained the bloodiest one in terms of the number of the people killed by human bombs across Pakistan in a single year since 9/11.

More than four suicide attacks were carried out every month in 2010, compared with six of last year.

Of the 1271 Pakistanis who lost their lives in suicide hits in 2010, 49% were civilians. The number of civilian casualties stood at 645, as against 863 last year.

Of the remaining 626 martyrs who lost their lives in suicide bombings this year, 176 belonged to the security forces and the law enforcement agencies. Three American soldiers and two Pakistani journalists were also killed.

Of the remaining 436 Pakistanis killed by the human bombs this year, of the total number, 12% were Shia Muslims, 8% were Ahmedis or Qadianis while 6% were Barelvi Muslims.

Of the 1,271 persons who lost their lives in suicide hits this year, the largest number, 416, were killed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province in 25 attacks; 34% of the total dead. Thirty one per cent of the total deaths were from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); 25% from Punjab; 7% from Balochistan and 2% were from Sindh.