'Terror groups thrive in Pakistan due to local facilitation and recruitment networks'

Militancy has "survived and morphed" inside Pakistan because of local facilitation and recruitment networks, a leading newspaper commented on Tuesday, days after a prominent think-tank said the usual "cat-and-mouse game" continued between state authorities and banned outfits in the country in 2018.

There were a total of 262 terrorist attacks in Pakistan last year, including 19 suicide and gun-and-suicide coordinated attacks, killing 595 people, besides injuring 1,030 others, according to Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS).

Though terror attacks posted a 29 per cent decrease from the previous year, the Islamabad-based think-tank said the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, faced the highest number of terrorist attacks compared to all other regions of Pakistan.

A total of 125 reported attacks from the province claimed 196 lives and inflicted injuries on another 376 people.

The recently-released report noted that in 2018, "the usual cat-and-mouse game continued between state authorities and banned outfits."
Meanwhile, the Dawn newspaper, in an editorial on Tuesday, following the PIPS report, noted that militancy has "survived and morphed inside Pakistan because of local facilitation and recruitment networks."