Rising terror threats come as another blow to Pakistan’s tottering economy

The rising terror threats from Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban could deal a further blow to Pakistan’s already battered economy. The government has issued an alert after negotiations between the outfit and the government hit a roadblock. The rise in terror threats will dampen sentiments of the global investors at a time when Pakistan is making desperate attempts to fix its economy. The flow of foreign direct investment has seen a sharp fall. FDI inflow in July and August has dropped 26.1 percent to $169.5 million compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

According to Pakistan Today, the Shehbaz Sharif government, instead of playing down terror threats, from TTP, should “taken notice of the terrorist infiltration months back” to be well prepared to address the issue.

In 2022, the TTP’s violence will remain a major challenge for Pakistan, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in a report published in January said. In 2021, the group operating from bases in Afghanistan, and with a growing presence inside Pakistan, mounted an increasing number of attacks.

“For the Sharif government, the real threat arises from the TTP, which has asked people to support jihad.. Islamabad will find it challenging to control that sphere and no one will be able to tell what its next steps will be,” Anil Trigunayat, Distinguished Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation who earlier served as India’s ambassador and told India Narrative earlier.

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The TTP has started strengthening itself in the Swat Valley of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Protests have erupted in the area after unidentified gunmen open fire on a school van killing the bus driver.

Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) in a report published last year, said that the number of terror attacks and the number of resulting fatalities has started to tick up with growing sectarianism and the causes feeding into radicalization of the population not only continue to exist but, in some instances, are aggravating the problem. It also quoted the South Asia Terrorism portal (SATP) which highlighted that there were 319 terrorism related incidents in Pakistan in 2020. Pakistan’s National Counterterrorism Authority (NACTA) data showed terrorism attacks caused 357 deaths in Pakistan in 2020, a clear increase in the number of victims of terrorism from the previous year.