ISLAMABAD - Pakistan suffered around 49,000 casualties, including both civilian and military, while fighting terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), the intelligence agencies told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, heard a petition filed by former senator Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan.
Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel for Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), submitted a report pertaining to military operations, conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.
The report says, “No country has suffered more than Pakistan on account of the strife in Afghanistan. The most serious fallout has been the overflow of the turbulence across the Pak-Afghan border and consequent destabilisation of the sensitive border region of Fata/Pata.”
The armed forces were called in aid of civil power under Article 245 of the Constitution by the federal government and since then they have been deployed in Fata and Pata to perform their constitutional duty. The armed forces were called in aid of civil power as the police and other civilian agencies were unable to face the challenge and the threat to vast territories of KPK, the report said.
According to the report, the armed forces offered supreme sacrifices while fighting terrorism and till today they had suffered 15,681 casualties, including shaheeds and injured. The highest number of casualties occurred in 2009. The report revealed that since 9/11 the country while fighting terrorism, suffered around 49,000 casualties, including both civilian and military.
The report further states that in the year 2007-2008, the miscreants challenged the Constitution and the writ of the state and also violated Article 256 of the Constitution by raising private armies and committing a series of offences against the state, including terrorist attacks.
The court was told that military operations against terrorists and their hideouts had largely been successful and security forces had given huge sacrifices to break the strength of these terrorists.
The report revealed that 1,479 soldiers were killed and 5,745 injured from 2008 to 2013. It further revealed that 675 FC men were killed and 1,978 injured during this period. According to the report, 5,152 civilians were killed and 5,678 injured during the period. The report further stated that from 2008 to 2013, 3,051 miscreants were killed and 1,228 injured.
The report said that from 2008 to 2013, there were a total of 235 suicide attacks, 9,257 rocket attacks and 4,256 bomb attacks.
Giving details of target killings, the report revealed that 243 people were killed and 275 injured from 2010 to 2013, adding 1,030 schools and colleges were destroyed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2009 to 2013.
The report stated that in 2013, miscreants did not remain as effective as there were in 2008 because they were threatening security of the state and challenging writ of the government at that time. It further stated that the people’s support to the terrorists had been decreasing and they were no more being considered as heroes in the society. During the hearing, the FATA secretary also placed on record a report pertaining to operations in Fata and Pata.
The court directed the counsel for the petitioner to get the copy of the report, filed by the counsel for the intelligence agencies and submit reply today (Wednesday) and adjourned the hearing.