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Islamabad, April 15(ANI): Over 2,500 people were killed in militant attacks in Pakistan in 2010, and at least 900 others lost their lives in US drone strikes in the tribal areas during the same period, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said in its annual report.

The HRCP noted that nearly half of these victims were civilians killed in suicide blasts in Pakistan, which saw 67 such attacks last year.

The HRCP released its data in its annual report on the state of human rights and security in Pakistan between January and December 2010, the BBC reports.

The number of people killed by the army is not mentioned, but is estimated to be in the range of 600-700, according to the report.

The HRCP’s findings show a rise in the numbers of those killed in Pakistan’s conflict. A BBC research published last July suggested that 1,713 people had been killed by militants over the preceding 18 months, while 746 people had died in drone attacks during the same period.

“Pakistan’s biggest problem continues to be violence carried out militants,” HRCP Chairman Mehdi Hasan said.

“In 2010, 67 suicide attacks were carried out across the country in which 1,169 people were killed. At least 1,000 of those were civilians,” he added.

Hasan said that a total of 2,542 people had been killed in militant attacks in the country last year, adding that the most glaring example of government oversight had been in the Balochistan province, where targeted killings shot up rapidly with 118 people being killed in 2010.

Hasan anticipated that the figure was set to increase in 2011, as the government seemed unconcerned about the unravelling of the law and order situation in Balochistan.

The HRCP report also noted increasing intolerance against religious minorities in the country, saying that 99 members of the Ahmedi (Qadiani) sect had been killed in attacks in 2010, while 64 people had been charged under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law. (ANI)