New Delhi: Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic rise in the incidents of suicide attacks in the country over the past three years since the storming of the Lal Masjid by security forces in mid-2007.
According to the figures released by the government, 3,433 Pakistanis were killed in 215 suicide attacks across the country’s four provinces and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) between July 2007 and July 2010, cnsnews.com reports.
The most obvious increase came in the second half of 2007 after the take over of the Lal Masjid by the Pakistani Army.
Before the storming of the mosque in early July, 75 people were killed in 12 attacks; by year’s end, suicide terrorists had struck an additional 44 times, killing 567 people.
The Lal Masjid and its associated madrassas had been a hotbed of extremism for years before it became the site of a tense and lengthy standoff between hostage-taking radicals and the government, cnsnews.com reports.
Former President Pervez Musharraf ordered clampdown on the radical seminary in which more than 100 people were killed.
Among those killed in Lal Masjid was its deputy leader, Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
Pakistani police believe that former supporters and students and relatives of some of those killed have been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks since then.
ANI
