India sixth worst affected country by terrorism

According to report which is accessed by IBNS, reads that terrorism increased by 70 per cent in India from 2012 to 2013, with the number of deaths increasing from 238 to 404.

The number of attacks also increased, with 55 more attacks in 2013 than 2012.

However, the majority of terrorist attacks in India have low casualties. In 2013 around 70 per cent of attacks were non-lethal.

There were attacks by 43 different terrorist groups who can be categorized into three groups: Islamists; separatists; and communists.

Communist terrorist groups are by far the most frequent perpetrators and the main cause of deaths in India.

Three Maoist communist groups claimed responsibility for 192 deaths in 2013, which was nearly half of all deaths from terrorism in India.

Police are overwhelmingly the biggest targets of Maoists, accounting for half of all deaths and injuries.

Report reads, this is mainly through armed assaults, which killed 85, and bombings and explosions, which killed 43.

Kidnapping is also a common tactic of the Maoists where it is often used as political tool to force the government to release Maoist prisoners.

The majority of Maoist attacks occurred in the provinces of Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Generally, the dispute with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir is the source of Islamic terrorism.

In 2013 three Islamist groups were responsible for around 15 per cent of deaths.

This includes Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamist group allegedly based in Pakistan with a membership of around 15,000.

This group was the only group in India to use suicide tactics in 2013.

GTI index reads, an Islamist group in India commonly uses armed assaults targeting the police or bombings targeting private citizens.

The majority of attacks occur in Hyderabad in the south, a city with a 40 per cent Muslim population, and Jammu and Kashmir in the north, an area which is nearly two thirds Muslim.

In September 2014 Al-Qaeda announced a presence in India, hoping to unite other Islamist groups.

Added in report India's north east region has for the last three decades seen continual ethno-political unrest from ethnic secessionist movements.

Separatist groups including in Assam, Bodoland, Kamtapur and Meghalaya were responsible for 16 per cent of deaths.

Targeting private citizens, police and businesses, attacks are generally restricted to the geographic region as most of these groups are relatively small and have local claims.

Terrorism has also been increasing on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan where the Taliban has escalated attacks over the last three years.

Tensions in Pakistan escalated in 2007 when Presidential candidate Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, and deaths have increased by 20 per cent over the last two years.

In India, there remains significant terrorist activity, including on the border between India and Pakistan.

Reporting by: Saleem Iqbal Qadri