Karachi(RIA Novosti) : About 670 people in Pakistan have been killed and over 1,800 injured in about 157 terrorist attacks since the start of the year, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
The year’s worst attack occurred in Karachi in mid-October, leaving over 140 people dead and over 500 injured. Two explosions went off in the middle of a huge crowd near the motorcade of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, who had returned to the country after eight years of self-imposed exile.
Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said Tuesday that despite the worryingly high number of fatalities this year, the figures could have been far worse.
“The state security system was not idle and managed to prevent a lot of pre-planned terrorist attacks,” he said.
President General Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in Pakistan Saturday, citing a dangerous rise in militant activity.
The president banned the Supreme Court from overturning the emergency order, blocked non-state TV broadcasts, and restricted citizens’ movement in the country, moves that have been widely condemned by the international community.
General Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999. He has since retained his presidential and military titles, as well as the right to dissolve parliament and dismiss the government.