Pak: Spike in attacks on workers of religious parties

Pakistan saw a sharp increase in terror attacks on workers associated with religious parties in 2017 while there was a 50 per cent reduction in attacks on workers of political parties, a new report has said.

The figures were part of a report by the Centre For Research And Security Study.

34 workers of religious parties died in 2017 in different incidents whereas 12 had died in 2016.

In 2016, 52 workers of political parties were killed while the figure for 2017 was 28.

The report further revealed that 80 percent politicians and local leaders were martyred in target killings and suicide attacks.

Overall, 2,057 people died in suicide attacks, bomb blasts, personal clashes and other criminal offences in 2017 in Pakistan, which mostly included security forces personnel, and 779 civilians, including 28 politicians.