Abstract

After the attack on the American twin tower on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration launched a war against the terrorists and Al-Qaeda hiding in Afghanistan. During this war, Pakistan became the front-line state due to its proximity to Afghanistan. The American war on terror also brought disastrous effects on Pakistan. Due to the war on terror, Pakistan faced and is still facing a number of challenges in its social and economic spheres. This paper is an attempt to highlight the socio-economic challenges faced by Pakistan due to the war on terror. The paper revolves around these research questions. What are the socio-economic effects of the war on terror on Pakistan? What socio-economic cost was paid by Pakistan during the war on terror? What are the implications of the war on terror for Pakistan?

Key Words

Terrorism, Tribal Areas, Military Operation, Drone Attacks, CIA, Al-Qaeda

Introduction

Pakistan played a pivotal role during the war on terror. Pakistan, which was advocating for the support of the Taliban internationally in the 1990s, took a U-turn after 9/11 and decided to support the US in the war on terror against the Taliban. The US put forwarded seven demands in front of Pakistan just after the terrorist attack on its soil. Pakistan accepted all the demands of the U.S to crush and curb terrorism and provided them all facilities, including sharing of intelligence reports, air bases, and transit routes. Pakistan had its compulsion to support the US during the war on terror. If she would not support the US, it would be isolated internationally, a freedom fighter in Kashmir would be declared as a terrorist, and the Indian factor was also there that wanted to prove Pakistan a terrorist state. The Bush doctrine was also a threat for Pakistan that called whether you are with us or not, and we would not make any difference between supporters and attackers. So keeping its national interest prime, Pakistan supported the US on the war on terror and provided all necessary support. America also desperately needed Pakistan's support due to its proximity with Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a land lock state and the US needed naval and air bases of Pakistan to launch full scale of operation against terrorists hiding in Afghanistan. While supporting the US on the war on terror Pakistan paid a heavy price in term of irreparable loss of humanity, infrastructure damage, economic loss, and above all the psychological effect on people who became a victim of terrorism during this period. American war prolonged to almost twenty years, and during these twenty years, Pakistan faced a huge number of terrorist attacks that shaken it economy and social structure. Due to heavy bombardment in Afghanistan, the terrorist took refuge in tribal areas of Pakistan. When Pakistan took action against these hiding terrorists, then they targeted the urban centers of Pakistan (Warikoo, 2007). The socio-economic losses faced by Pakistan during the twenty-year-long war on terror are enlisted below:




Economic Cost 

The war on terror had cast its spell on the economy of Pakistan. Almost every sector of Pakistan's economy was shattered by counter-terrorism. Pakistan has faced almost $150 billion in economic loss to fight against the menace of terrorism. While Pakistan had received only $ 20 billion from the US as an aid to counter-terrorism (Khurshid, 2021). The cost was paid to cut the development projects of Pakistan. According to Shaukat Tarin, the Finance Minister, 2009 was the worst fiscal year of the decade due to the prevailing security situation in the state (Bilal, 2009).  The economic sectors of Pakistan that suffered due to terrorism are:

a. Foreign Direct Investment

b. Tourism and transport sector

c. Agriculture sector

d. Infrastructure Damage




Foreign Direct Investment

The war on terror affects the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan. Obviously, a state under continuous terrorist attacks is not a suitable destination for foreign investors. They always felt the threat to invest their capital in war-torn state, so from the last two decades, foreign investor avoid visiting to Pakistan and affecting its economy negatively. The attack on the New Zealand Cricket team (2002) and Sri Lankan Cricket Team (2009) were messages for foreign investor from terrorists that Pakistan was not safe for them. Consequently, Pakistan has not received any major foreign investment and has suffered about a 3% GDP loss annually since 2000 (Khurshid, 2021).




Tourism and Transport Sector

War on terror also affects the tourism industry of Pakistan. The most attractive tourism destinations are Swat, Kalam, Malakand, FATA, and Buddhist sites, where almost one million tourists come every year and Pakistan earned almost $ 300 million from them (Umar, 2021). The menace of terrorism and consequent military operations to tackle these terrorists hampered the tourism industry of Pakistan. The transport and hostel industry suffered badly due to the decline in number of tourists. Almost 40,000 people that are associated with the business of tourism in these areas also faced economic trouble due to a sudden fall in the tourist number. So indirectly, it also increases unemployment in northern areas of Pakistan. The hotel industry of Pakistan suffered almost a loss of 60 billion since 2000 (Harrison, 2020). 




Agriculture Sector

The agriculture sector of Pakistan also set-back due to terrorism. The northern areas of Pakistan were producing specialized agricultural products. 50 to 70% fruits in Pakistan eree produced in these areas and have a sizable share in the GDP of Pakistan. But since 2000 many fruits orchards were destroyed due to ongoing military operations against terrorists because terrorists were using them as hide-outs for them. According to an estimate, two-thirds of standing crops were destroyed during the military operations against the terrorism and produce food shortage in the area and Pakistan. This was also one of the causes of inflation in Pakistan (Arshad, 2014).




Infrastructure Damage

During the last two decades, the terrorists had damaged innumerable infrastructure in Pakistan. They attacked schools, especially girls schools in tribal areas, hospitals, bridges even mosques and shrines were not safe from their attack. Now rebuilding of these infrastructure Pakistan has to spend a huge amount.  




Deployment of Troops in Tribal Areas: Repercussions

Due to the American bombardment in Afghanistan after 9/11, the terrorist took refuge in tribal agencies of Pakistan. Due to mountainous terrains and cultural affiliation, it was quite easy for a terrorist to hide along the Durand Line. On the call of U.S, Pakistan stated a number of operations in these areas to curb the terrorists and their hideouts. In 2004 Pakistan assigned a consignment of 80000 troops to Erstwhile-Federally Administrative Tribal Areas. This was happened for the first time in the history of Pakistan that any regular forces were deployed in these areas since 1947 no forces were deployed in this area. This was a tough decision taken by the government of Pakistan. Two major challenges were ahead for govt. Firstly the local residents of tribal areas had reservations about the deployment of troops in their areas where local lords or Maliks were leading the local affairs. Second was that the army soldiers were suspicious initially to start operation against their own people and many resigned from army on this ground (Vyacheslav, 2013). The troops faced very strong resistance to start operations in these areas as the local people were initially sympathizers of the terrorist due to certain reasons;

? They considered these terrorists as Mujahideens as they fought against USSR in 1979 (Samrez, 2019).

? Army was conducting operation under the pressure of America and they considered America an enemy of Islam

? These Taliban wanted to impose Islamic Sharia Law that were already strongly prevailing in these areas

? Taliban provided them speedy trial and justice that was otherwise quite lengthy and costly process in Pakistan

? Taliban won the hearts of local people by shutting down the video centres in these areas that were also source of pornographic videos and they also controlled the drug dealing in local areas.

? Unemployment and illiteracy was another factor of support of Taliban in tribal areas. Taliban provided employment to youth of tribal areas with handsome salaries that they could not get otherwise.

? Taliban were either the close friends or relatives of people of tribal areas (Anatol, 2012).

So Pakistan army had two major challenges to fight terrorists in tribal areas. First, they had to motivate local people and convince them about the significance of military operations and consequences to support terrorists and secondly, their ability to fight this war as it proved to be the longest war in the history of Pakistan. Pakistan Army successfully carried out many operations in tribal areas like Al-Mizan, Sirat-e-Mustaqeem, Rah-e-Haq, Rah-e-Nijad, Khwakh Bade Sham, Takmeel-e-Azam, Mountain Top, Zarb-e-Azab, Radd-ul-Fasaad and many more (Samraz, 2019). These operations had fractured the back bone of terrorists and many wanted terrorists were killed during these operations. Almost 33000 terrorists were killed in these operations while almost 7000 soldiers embraced martyrdom (Umar, 2021).

 On the other hand Pakistan had paid a hefty price for carrying out these operations against terrorists. In response of these operations terrorist started suicide bombing in major cities of Pakistan and almost 22000 civilians became the prey of their victim. Even scared places were not safe from their attacks (Umar, 2021). They attacked mosques, schools, hospitals, and markets. The worst one was the Army Public School, Peshawar attack on December 16, 2014, in which almost 150 students were killed by terrorist. This was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan when such large number of school students were brutally attacked and killed by terrorists. 

Terrorists also targeted the eminent personalities of Pakistan at different spots. General Musharraf was targeted three times by terrorists. Once he was targeted in Karachi (April 2002), then in Islamabad (December 2002) and finally in Baluchistan (December 2005) and luckily he got escaped all times. Ex-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s vehicle was targeted by terrorist in August 2004, but he also survived. Benazir was twice targeted by terrorist in 2007 when she came back from self-imposed exile in 2007. The first attack was carried out when she was holding a rally in October 2007, in this attack Benazir survived, but 179 people last their lives. Second attack was done when she was holding rally in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, on December 27, 2007, but unfortunately in this attack she lost her life (Benazir, 2008).

Foreigners were also victimized by terrorists in Pakistan. Especially they targeted the Chinese nationals working on different economic project in Pakistan. The hidden purpose of these attacks was to hamper the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan. The Daniel Pearl, an American journalist was kidnapped by the terrorists in 2002 and brutally murdered later on (Unsa, 2015).

Human Loss in Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan 2003-2017

Source: Securing the Future: Means to End All Terrorism Means

Emergence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and new wave of Terrorism

In 2007, the students of Lal Masjid in Islamabad tried to challenge the writ of government by taking action against the foreigners who were involved in un-Islamic activities. When government stated operation against the students of Lal Masjid, they showed strong resistance against government. Finally army was deployed to take action against them. Due to this action against the students of Lal Masjid in July 2007, the militants formed their own organization with the name of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) under the headship of Baitullah Mahsud with 40 members. Mostly members belonged to the FATA region. They declared themselves an ally of Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban. Their aim was to fight (Jihad) against US forces and implementation of Sharia Law in state (Anatol, 2012). Their main source of funding was from drug dealing, kidnapping, and smuggling. With the emergence of TTP, the terrorist had expanded their activities from tribal areas across the state. They targeted all major cities of Pakistan and killed several hundred innocent people along with security personnel (Tariq Ali, 2021). Shia population, Christians, Ahmadis, Sikhs, women and also children became the target of TTP terrorist activities.

The TTP terrorist activities started with the assassination of late Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007 (Arif, 2022). Afterward large numbers of terrorist activities of TTP were reported. On September 20, 2008 TTP attacked the Marriot hotel in Islamabad and killed at least 40 people (The New York Times, 2008). In October 2009, Army General Headquarter was also targeted by terrorist and killed 11 soldiers. The responsibility of attack was claimed by Farooqi Group of TTP (Punjabi Taliban) (Jasbir, 2009). The terrorist activities of TTP were not limited to Pakistan, they had widened their spectrum in 2010 and launched Faisal Shahzad to detonate a bomb at Time Square in New York. Facial Shahzad got training from TTP and they facilitated him to launch bomb at New York. But fortunately the bomb defused and he was caught red handed by security. In 2013, total 148 terrorist attacks were reported in Pakistan and out of these 108 attacks were planned and conducted by TTP. In these attacks almost 156 people were killed. TTP targeted Karachi airport in 2014 and killed 37 innocent people. But the most brutal victim of TTP attack was the students of Army Public School. This attack was not only condemned by the international community but also by Al-Qaeda leaders. This attack consumed the lives of almost 150 school students and traumatized a large number of population. Global Terrorism Index reported that 60% of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the year of 2016 were carried out by TTP (Pakistan Security Report, 2016). 

TTP used Afghanistan soil to launch terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Almost all major terrorist attacks carried by TTP were traced back to Afghanistan where they were getting the support from RAW (Umar, 2021). In the cover of humanitarian and development projects in Afghanistan, India had established its consulate along the Durand Line and was  providing support to terrorist to launch attacks in Pakistan. India was supporting these terrorists to destabilize Pakistan, isolate it diplomatically and to portray Pakistan, Internationally as an epicenter of terrorism and terrorists activities. U.S was also playing a double game with Pakistan it was fighting against the Afghani Taliban while supporting the TTP (Sammad, 2019).

 To stop the terrorist activities of TTP Pakistan army launched a number of military operations. Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Operation Rad-ul-Fasaad had shaken the foundation of TTP. The success of these operations had dismantled the sanctuaries of TTP in FATA (Umar, 2021). But after the withdrawal of U.S from Afghanistan now TTP had again regrouped and started terrorism in Pakistan.




Anti-Americanism

The Pak-US relations were believed to be issue oriented. In Pakistan it was believed whenever US needed Pakistan they used it for their interest and ultimately leave her in turmoil. The anti-US sentiments grew in Pakistan after U.S attack on Afghanistan’s soil. There were three main causes of anti-Americanism in Pakistan.

a. Religion

b. Drone Attacks

c. Do More Mantra




Religion

Religious factor contributed anti-Americanism in Pakistan. The anti-Americanism was stronger in tribal areas of Pakistan as compared to the urban centers and that grew with the passage of time. Even people of these areas turned against their own army due to anti-Americanism. They believed that the Pakistan army had launched many operations after 2004, in tribal areas on the call of the U.S and they were killing their own people because they got dollars from the U.S. The people of these areas believed that America was their enemy and fighting against Muslims, so they extended their support to the Taliban instead of the Pakistan army or CIA (Anatol, 2012). 

Drone Attacks

A second major factor of Anti-Americanism was drone attacks in Pakistani territory by the CIA. These anti-American sentiments penetrated into urban center after the U.S attack in tribal areas through drones. U.S and its allies used the drone tactics for two decades in many countries like Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan to target the terrorists. In Pakistan the first drone attack was done by CIA on June 19, 2004. Maximum numbers (353) of drone attacks were  during President Obama’s administration. The majority of drone strikes were carried out in PPP regime. According to National Counter Terrorism Authority between 2008 and 2012, 336 aerial attacks were carried out by U.S. and 2010 was deadly yearly in this regard. CIA carried maximum no. of drone attacks in that year (The Economic Time Report, 2022).

CIA had achieved successful results from these attacks. The first leader of TTP, Baitullah Mahsud was killed in 2009 in South Waziristan Agency (Anatol, 2012). The second leader of TTP was also targeted in 2013 in North Waziristan. In June 2018, the third commander of TTP was also killed by a drone attack in the province of Kunar, Afghanistan. But the ratio of innocent and terrorists in these attacks was very wide.  Innocent people including children and women were mostly killed than terrorists in drone strikes (Abdul, 2021).


Source: Statista, Fatalities from U.S Drone Strikes in Pakistan 2004-2020


The messes in Pakistan were against these attacks as it killed a large number of innocent people of tribal areas. Processions and protests were carried out in all major cities of Pakistan against drone strikes.  Protests were carried out by messes and some politicians to denounce the drone attacks and called it as the challenge for the sovereignty of Pakistan. Imran Khan lauded the voice against these attacks being an opposition leader in November 2013. Religious groups also raised their voices against attacks and considered it a violation of the territorial integrity of Pakistan (Salman, 2013). While the U.S authorities and Wikileaks revealed that there was an agreement between U.S and Pakistan on drone strikes but the government of Pakistan denounced drone attacks publically to counter the public anger. President Zardari and Gen. Pervaiz Ashfaq Kiyani favoured the drone attacks to crush the terrorists in tribal areas of Pakistan (Bob, 2010).


Do More Mantra
The third factor of anti-Americanism in Pakistan is America's “Do More Mantra” for Pakistan. Pakistan was the only country that suffered most from the War on Terror after Afghanistan. Pakistan became the front line state and most ally of NATO during the war on terror but rather than appreciating the efforts and sacrifices by Pakistan, U.S always raised concerns about the role of Pakistan. Pakistan provided logistic support to the US during the war on terror. Intelligence reports were shared with the CIA. Almost 700 terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda were handed over to the CIA. Pakistan launched almost 38 major operations against foreign terrorists (Touqir, 2005). Pakistan had utilized its maximum potential to fight against terrorism, but US continuous claim to do more not only annoyed Pakistani establishment but also turned its messes against the US. Many were of the opinion that the US was doing it to appease India that she needed to counter China in the region (Amir, 2022).  


Internally Displace Persons (IDPs)
When the military operations were launched in tribal and adjoining areas of Pakistan, the residents of these areas had to vacate their homes and flee to safer places due to security situation. When army operations were intensified in these areas in 2009 then there was a surge in internally displace persons (IDPs) (Bilal, 2009). Almost 5 million people were displaced and took refuge in different areas across the state. Few of them settled in urban centres, mainly in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar and mostly settled in host communities with a lack of basic facilities. The Bannu District of KPK hosted the largest population of IDPs. (ACAPS Report, 2021). 
These IDPs faced a number of challenges in host communities. They were lacking  access to basic facilities like shortage of food, washing, drinking and health care facilities. In Baluchistan province due to the non-availability of clean drinking water, the IDPs took water from nearby paddy fields that contain chemical and affected them with diseases like renal diseases and hepatitis. The IDPs of Swat and Malakand that were settled in Swabi and adjacent areas even did not have proper summer clothing and they suffered from intense heat of Swabi (Najam, 2010). They also didn’t have sufficient finances to meet basic facilities on their own, although the markets in host communities did not lack the basic commodities. But their financial condition restricted them to avail these facilities because mostly people living in tribal areas were related to agriculture or herding and having poor economic resources. Another problem the IDPs faced in host communities was that they were seen with suspicion and hatred and considered as backward and illiterate. Even the Sindh cabinet proposed a bill to seal the provincial border to halt the influx of IDPs in their province that would create economic burden and social problems in the province (Assunta, 2014). The National Political Party opposed the flow of 80,000 IDPs from Bajaur Agency to Baluchistan province. They claimed that the influx of these IDPs would lead to the demographic imbalance in the Baluch majority province. They also claimed that the province of Baluchistan was already suffering due to Afghan refugees that fled to their area after U.S bombardment and were the source of sectarianism and other violence in the province. 
Children and Women also suffered a lot. Children suffered not only from malnutrition but also they had to compromise on their education. Women suffered from privacy issues as sometime two-three families had to share one camp and health care issues as many of them were pregnant and did not get the access to medical facilities (Najam, 2010). The psychological effect on these IDPs would be unfathomable because it would be very hard to leave their own home and live in a turmoil condition.
Government response was encouraging in this regard, they provided cash grants, food shelter and health care facilities to IDPs. FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) and Provincial Disaster Management Authority of KPK, Sindh, Baluchistan, and Punjab collaborated to respond. NADRA registered IDPs so they could get the aid and assistance provided by the government. On the request of the government of Pakistan, International donors also provided assistance and aid for IDPs, especially World Bank and UNHCR were worth mentioning. Workers involved in rehabilitation and assistance projects were targeted many times but these attacks did not let their moral down (IDMC, 2015). 

Afghan Refugees: Socio-Economic Issues

Pakistan hosted the second-largest refugees in the world after Turkey. Pakistan received Afghan refugees in three phases. In phase-I refugees came to Pakistan as a result of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and Phase II was started at the time of withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and civil war in the state. The third Phase to receive refugees started with the U.S attack on Afghanistan after 9/11 (M. Zubair, 2019). Pakistan had almost 3 million refugees in 2002 and now the total registered Afghan refugees were 1.4 million.



Source: UNHCR Operational Data Portal Refugees Situation August 31, 2021




These afghan refugees were settled in all areas of Pakistan. The chart below shows the concentration of Afghan refugee’s settlement in different areas of Pakistan. The refugees were mainly settled in KPK and then in Baluchistan. Their least concentration was found in Gilgit-Baltistan (UNHCR, 2021). The main reason of their settlement in KPK and Baluchistan was the proximity of these provinces with Afghanistan and cultural affinity. In these two provinces, the security situation was fragile and sectarianism was on its peak. The other problems that Pakistan faced due to these refugees were an increase in street crimes, snatching, drug trafficking, kidnapping and demand for ransom, harassment and depletion of natural resources. They also created challenges for local residents in terms of job opportunities as they were always ready to work on low wages (Asif, 2020).

Source: UNHCR Operational Data Portal Refugees Situation August 31, 2021




Surge in Polio Cases

Not only Pakistan’s army and its population scarified for war on terror but also the children of Pakistan faced certain challenges during this war. Pakistan and Afghanistan were only two nations of the world that still  reported polio cases. Polio eradication programme was launched in Pakistan three decades before (1994). Due to this campaign there was continuous decline in the cases of Polio in-state but after 2008 an upward trend was seen in Polio cases. This upward trend was associated with the increase in militancy across the state. The maximum no of polio cases were detected in KPK and Erstwhile-FATA. The main reason of polio cases in these areas were the ongoing operation against the militants and terrorists and deteriorating security situation (Naseem, 2015). 

The year 2014 was the darkest year in Pakistan regarding the polio cases. There were three major reasons of sudden increase in polio cases. Firstly, the rise was due to the killing and targeting of polio workers and team in different areas of Pakistan. Since 2012 almost 74 polio workers were targeted and killed. For the smooth functioning of the polio campaign government had hired ranger or police with polio workers. The second reason was, many families simply denied to get their kids polio drops due to the  myths about it that western states through these drops wanted to control over the population of Muslims (Waseem, 2015). To clarify this myth government had started a media campaign, and the services of different religious scholars were taken to remove this myth. Third but most important reason was that hampered the polio campaign was the fake polio campaign started by CIA in 2011 with the help of a local doctor to search the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, so due to this incident people lost their trust over polio team (Ayaz, 2012).

Source: Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme

Sectarian Violence

There were two factors that were responsible for the sectarianism in Pakistan. The first one was the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 and their aim to spread Shiaism in other parts of the world. The second factor was the Islamization programme of Zia in the early 80's. The Islamization programme widens the gap between Shia and Sunni sects. Between 1989 and 2003 almost 1468 cases of sectarian violence were reported in different parts of the state (Huma, 2012)

An upward trend was seen in sectarian violence in Pakistan during the war on terror. This war extended the gap between different religious sects in Pakistan and sectarian situation deteriorate even ever before. South Asian portal of terrorism reported more than 2000 sectarian violence cases in Pakistan between 2001 and 2017 (HRW Report, 2014). The sectarian violence cases were more reported from Quetta where Hazara community of Shia sect was frequently targeted. 2013 was a bloody year in this regard when in these two months almost 180 Hazara Shias were killed. According to Human Right Watch Report (2014) since 2008 almost 500 Hazara’s were killed in different terrorist attacks. The latest attack on the Hazara community was in January 2021 in Machh Coal Mine, where 11 coal miners were brutally killed by terrorists. The families of deceased denied burying their dead ones until Prime Minister would not assure them protection. They recoded week long protest and sat beside the bodies of their loved ones in chill cold. After Baluchistan the maximum sectarian violence cases were heard from FATA and Kurrum. Almost 1500 people were killed in sectarian violence between 2007 and 2013 in these areas. Cases of sectarian violence were also reported from different cities of Pakistan, especially from Karachi (Niloufer, 2015).

Ahmadis also became the victim of sectarian violence in Pakistan. The year 2010 was deadly for Ahmadis when militants attacked two Ahmadis mosques in Lahore and killed almost 94 people while using guns and grenades. The injured people of these attacks were taken to Jinnah Hospital where militants again attacked and killed 20 more people including paramedical staff and policemen (HRW, 2010).

TTP, Leshk-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Islamic State (IS) were mainly involved in these attacks. They carried anti-Shia jihad activities through-out the state but their main target was vulnerable Hazara community of Quetta whom they frequently targeted and claimed the responsibility of attacks. There were many sympathizers of these groups in the establishment. They were supporting the activities of these groups (Kunwar, 2021).




Drug Abuse in Pakistan

Drug abuse started in Pakistan after the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and Pakistan's support to Mujahideens. Before the Zia era the total drug addicts in Pakistan were only 130 but at the end it raised to 130,000 (Tariq, 2021). After that this number raised with the passage of time and war on terror added fuel on fire. According to the estimate of ‘National Survey on Drug Abuse’ in 1993 the drug users were almost 3 million but this figure reached to 4 million in 2000 (Ameen, 2020). From 4 million this number reached to 6.45 million in 2013 and the drug consumers were mostly between the ages of 15-64 years (Farah, 2013). Now Pakistan had almost 9 million drug consumers that raised from 7 million in 2015. Currently, College and University students also consume drug that was very alarming. According to a survey, out of every 10 students of university, one student was found drug addict.

According to Federal Secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Narcotics Control, Akbar Durrani, the rise in drug abuses in Pakistan lies with the proximity with Afghanistan that was the largest producer of opium. UN report 2020 revealed that 85% of world opium was produced in Afghanistan. Pakistan was not only the major consumer of drugs but also provide transit route to . War on terror had dramatically increased the production and smuggling of drugs in Afghanistan. The drug economy of Afghanistan was now stronger than in 2000 (Rupert, 2021). 

The President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, stressed to root out the drug abuse from Pakistan especially from universities and colleges. Different measures were taken to control drug abuse but still, the number has risen every year with almost 40,000 new users (Rupert, 2021).

Conclusion

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and forced Americans and its puppet government to flee. Due to this twenty year war in Afghanistan US lost almost $ 8 trillion. This war was more devastating for the US than Vietnam War. The implications of this war were also devastating for Pakistan. Pakistan that was frontline state during war on terror, faced around $ 150 billion economic loss. FDI, local industry, tourism industry all faced the effects of terrorism. The agricultural sector, tourism sector and industrial sector that mainly have reasonable share in the GDP of state were shudder due to terrorism. Due to counter-terrorism policy of Pakistan, a large portion of GDP was reserved to fight against terrorists to save the integrity of Pakistan. Many developmental projects were halted during this period due to military operations. Unemployment was at its peak, and it pushed many youngsters to involve in other illegal activities to release their stress. Many joined terrorist organizations because they were paying them handsome amount and many opted for drugs. The drug addicts in last two decade reached from 4 million to 9 million.

Pakistan had paid a heavy price of war on terror. The effects of war on terror on Pakistani society are long-lasting, and it may take time to fill the wounds of messes. The messes of Pakistan suffered a lot and their sacrifices are immeasurable and unfathomable. Pakistan has lost more than 60,000 lives of its citizens. Terrorism was shattering from 2010-2014 throughout the world. Pakistan also recorded maximum number of causalities during this time period.  The counter terrorism operations forced people to leave their houses and live in camps in miserable conditions. Their females that never moved out of house, or moved out only in emergency, they left their houses and were forced to live in camps where there was little privacy. The damage caused by drone attacks in term of civil causalities and infrastructure was irreparable. Even the surge in polio cases were also recorded during this time frame. The maximum damage was faced by the areas adjacent to Afghanistan. The sacrifices of people of KPK and erstwhile FATA were countless.

The socio-economic life of Pakistan was shuddered during her support to America against the war on terror. Putting all the sacrifices of Pakistan aside US always demanded to do more. They called Pakistan as unreliable and dishonest partner although Pakistan performed more than its capacity and suffered a lot. Pakistan will take long to recover from the damage caused by the war on terror to its economy and society. The one of the growing anti-American sentiments in Pakistan are due to U.S discriminatory policy towards Pakistan. The current inclination of Pakistan towards Russia is also the outcome of this policy of America.

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