Current and Emerging Threat of Terrorism in South Asia

Rohan Gunaratna

Abstract
South Asia is the emerging epicentre of global terrorism, replacing the Middle East as the key
breeding ground for terrorist operatives and supporters. Since the US-led intervention in
Afghanistan nearly a decade ago, Al-Qaeda and its associated groups–notably the
Taliban–have survived and revived. The Pakistani Federally Administered Tribal Area
(FATA), separating the rest of Pakistan from Afghanistan, has become the central theater of
operations and unless governments sincerely and seriously work together and share
expertise and resources, the spectre of terrorism is likely to grow in South Asia and could
even spill over in the coming decade. After Afghanistan, Pakistan faces the biggest threat in
the region