Violent deaths surge by 22% in first week of February

Political violence claims 54 lives during bloody week.

As the temperature of politics rises in the country, politically motivated violence in different parts of Pakistan in the first week of February with 54 people being killed and 70 people were reported injured, a report by the Free And Fair Election Network (FAFEN) said on Tuesday.

The report also recorded three kidnappings in a total of 21 violent incidents as 89 lost their lives in the week, recording a  jump of 22 per cent from last week.

Regionally, Sindh topped the casualties where twelve incidences of politically motivated violence were reported, followed by six in Balochistan, two in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and one in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).  There were no available incident statistics about Punjab in the report.

Terrorism was the second biggest cause of death around the country with 36 people being killed in a bomb blast in Lakki Marwat and 13 injured in two incidents.

Sectarian strife also grew across the country, claiming the lives of 28 people while injuring 56 others.

At least 22 militants were reportedly killed in the week. 11 soldiers were also reportedly killed in an  attack on a military camp.

In its report on the political violence that took place in the last week of January, FAFEN claimed that 73 people were killed and 77 per cent of them, or 56 people, were civilians.