Anti-terrorism in Karachi. Photo: PPI (file)
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has, for the first time, topped the Global Terrorism Index, as the country witnessed a continued surge in terrorist violence, with terrorism-related deaths rising to 1,139 in 2025, a six per cent increase from the previous year.
The Global Terrorism Index 2026, released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), ranks 163 countries, representing 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, based on the impact of terrorism, measured through incidents, fatalities, injuries and hostage-taking.
The latest report places Pakistan at the highest level of impact, underscoring a deteriorating security environment driven by intensifying terrorist activity and regional instability.
According to the report, Pakistan’s “strained” ties with neighbouring countries, particularly Afghanistan, coupled with escalating violence from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), have created “significant security” risks.
“Deaths from terrorism in Pakistan are now at their highest level since 2013, with the country recording 1,139 terrorism deaths and 1,045 incidents in 2025,” the report said.
The findings identify the TTP as the “deadliest” terrorist outfit in Pakistan and the third deadliest globally.
“TTP attacks constitute over 67pc of total attacks in Pakistan since 2009, and it is responsible for five times as many attacks in Pakistan as the second most active group, the BLA,” the report said.
The group also stood out globally as the only one among the four deadliest organisations — Islamic State (IS), Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), TTP, and al-Shabaab — to record a rise in activity over the past year.
