Terror attacks claim 588 lives in Pakistan in 2015

At least 588 people have been killed in separate incidents of terrorism in Pakistan from January to August 2015, the country's interior minister told Senate on Tuesday.

In a letter submitted to the Upper House of the Parliament, the Interior Ministry said that about 588 Pakistanis were killed and 10,007 others injured in 821 incidents of terrorism during the first eight months of 2015.

Meanwhile the country's Defense Ministry said that ten military courts are functioning across the country and the establishment of the eleventh court is under process to give capital punishment to the convicts in terror related cases.

The ministry said that the total number of prisoners on death row in the country is 6,016 but only those condemned prisoners whose mercy pleas had been rejected were executed.

The executions were carried out after completion of due legal procedure, the ministry added.

The government also announced the National Action Plan to fight terrorism and militancy in response to the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar last year that killed over 150 students and faculty members.

The 20 point anti-terror plan calls for eliminating armed militias, countering hate speech and extremist literature, maintaining a dedicated counter-terrorism force, stopping religious persecution of minorities, annihilating terrorists' communication network and financial bases among other initiatives to eliminate terrorism in all forms. Endi