An overwhelming majority of Pakistanis, having endured years of terror attacks that have killed thousands, believe suicide bombings or other acts of violence targeting civilians are "never justified", according to a new survey.
While level of support for suicide bombings among Pakistanis was 33 per cent in 2002, it has come down to three per cent in 2013. This is the least among the 11 Muslim countries that was surveyed by Pew Research Center.
As per the survey, while 89 per cent of Pakistanis currently believe suicide bombings or other acts of violence targeting civilians are "never justified", another two per cent stated they sometimes can be justified, while one per cent stated they are "often" justified.
The survey reports opinions from 11 Muslim countries from face-to-face interviews of 8,989 Muslims conducted between March 3 and April 7 this year across Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey.
"Across 11 Muslim publics surveyed by the Pew Research Center, a median of 67 per cent say they are somewhat or very concerned about Islamic extremism. In five countries - Jordan Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey and Indonesia - Muslim worries about extremism have increased in the past year," the survey said.
On its research on the various pro-Islamic militant groups operating across the world, the survey finds that the Taliban are viewed negatively by a median of 51 per cent of Muslims in the countries polled.
"Hezbollah and Hamas fare little better. Hezbollah, in particular, has seen its support slip in key Middle Eastern countries, including a 38 percentage point drop in favourable views among Egyptian Muslims since 2007," the survey said.
