Pakistan tops list of nations at risk of violence: US think-tank report

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 2 (ANI): Pakistan has topped the list of countries at the highest risk of experiencing new mass killings, according to a new report by a US think-tank, Early Warning Project.
"Pakistan faces multiple security and human rights challenges, including increasing violence by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP," according to a report by Early Warning Project, a research organization that identifies countries at risk of mass violence, reported Al Arabiya News.
The report cites violence by a local offshoot of the Taliban as one of the main challenges for the nation already facing political and economic crises.
Incidentally, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) this week called off the ceasefire with the government, posing a serious challenge to its security.
TTP ended the ceasefire agreed with the government in June and ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country.
"As military operations are ongoing against mujahideen in different areas [...] so it is imperative for you to carry out attacks wherever you can in the entire country," the banned outfit said in a statement.
The Islamic group's violent campaign had been picking up pace in recent months, with the most significant attack coming in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) Lakki Marwat district last month, in which at least six policemen were killed.
According to Dawn, the Quetta attack signals the new beginning of a violent post-ceasefire campaign by the TTP, unless the security establishment and political leadership start to nip this evil in the bud.
Threats of attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS) and the country's blasphemy laws, which have resulted in episodes of mob violence against religious minorities, were other factors for Pakistan's high-risk ranking, reported Al Arabiya News.
Political volatility, following the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan, was also expected to lead to "highly contentious elections next year," according to the report.
The TTP, a Pakistani offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban, is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations.
According to UN estimates, it has between 4,000 to 6,500 fighters in Afghanistan. Its spread is beyond the tribal belt, to Pakistani cities.
Armed terrorists on November 16 ambushed a police patrol in KP, killing all six policemen. Local officials told Al Jazeera the incident took place when the police vehicle was fired upon in the city of Lakki Marwat, about 200 km from the provincial capital of Peshawar.
The failure of the federal and provincial governments to curb militancy has unsettled the people's lives. Protests of a unique kind have gained ground with people who want peace from TTP's depredations.
TTP fighters were largely routed into neighbouring Afghanistan, but Islamabad claims the Taliban in Kabul are now giving the TTP a foothold to stage assaults across the border.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's neighbour Afghanistan ranked seventh on the list because of its growing targeted killings at mosques and other public places after the Taliban's takeover of the country last year, reported Al Arabiya Post.
The Early Warning Project is a joint initiative of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College.
Two other Asian nations were on the top ten list -- Myanmar, where the military seized power in a February coup last year, was at number three according to the report. (ANI)