ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has suffered a whopping Rs8.1 trillion ($80bn) losses over the past 10 years due to the on-going war against terrorism. These estimated losses are more than twice the size of the country’s budget for 2014-15 which is Rs3.94 trillion.
The Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control, which collated these figures with the help of the finance ministry, claimed that more than 50,000 Pakistanis also died in this deadly war which started soon after the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
“Pakistan is a victim of terrorism, sponsored by anti-state elements. Unfortunately, extremist groups have also been active with their own ideology and motives,” said the interior ministry’s parliamentary secretary, Maryam Aurangzeb.
MNAs Shaikh Salauddin and Nighat Parveen had sought details of the losses Pakistan has suffered in the war on terror. The interior ministry, however, informed the House that it, in its initial findings, has collected data of 11,285 innocent citizens killed in terrorist attacks. More than 28,561 people were also injured in various bombings in the past five years, it added.
In its initial break-up, the ministry revealed that over 4,415 people were killed in Fata, 4,204 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 1,503 in Balochistan, 974 in Punjab, 128 in Islamabad Capital Territory, 60 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 14 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Responding to a question, posed by MNA Zahra Wadood Fatemi, the ministry informed the lawmakers that drone strikes and terrorist attacks affected 92,660 families of North Waziristan and South Waziristan agencies.
Former principal economic adviser of the finance ministry Saqib Sherani said: “We would have a healthy economy, if we had not fought a war against terror for a decade,” he said.
Economist Kaiser Bengali said: “War left severe impact on our economy, which also suffered significant losses due to ethnic clashes, sectarianism and extremism related issues.” To improve its economy Pakistan has to find ways to end the war, he added.
Internews
