Anti-terrorism in Karachi. Photo: PPI (archive)
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan, for the first time, topped the Global Terrorism Index as the country witnessed a continued rise in terrorist violence, with terrorism-related deaths rising to 1,139 in 2025, an increase of six percent from the previous year.
The Global Terrorism Index 2026, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), ranks 163 countries, representing 99.7 percent of the world’s population, according to the impact of terrorism, measured through incidents, deaths, injuries and hostage-taking.
The latest report places Pakistan at the highest impact level, underscoring a deteriorating security environment driven by escalating terrorist activity and regional instability.
According to the report, Pakistan’s “strained” ties with neighboring countries, particularly Afghanistan, along with escalating violence by 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 Pakistan’s “deadliest” terrorist group and the third deadliest globally.
“TTP attacks constitute more than 67 percent 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 organizations – Islamic State (IS), Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), TTP and al-Shabaab – to record an increase in activity over the past year.
