Published
November 18th 2014
10:11am
Report: Nearly 10,000 terror attacks in 2013
Almost 18,000 died last year, a jump of 60% compared to 2012; Israel is one of 13 states most at risk
Terrorist killings have risen almost fivefold since 9/11, despite US-led global efforts to control the scourge, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The number of deaths from terrorism increased by 61% between 2012 and 2013. In all, there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, a 44% increase from the previous year, the Global Terrorism Index 2014 report said.
The Global Terrorism Index recorded almost 18,000 deaths last year, a jump of about 60% over the previous year. Four groups were responsible for most of them: Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria; Boko Haram in Nigeria; the Taliban in Afghanistan; and al-Qaida in various parts of the world.
Thirteen countries are identified as being at risk of increased terrorist activity: Angola, Bangladesh, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Mali, Mexico, Burma, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
According to the index figures, the number of fatalities has steadily grown over the last 14 years, from 3,361 in 2000 to 11,133 in 2012 and 17,958 in 2013.
The upward trend in terror attacks stopped in 2007, but resumed in 2011 as a result of the Syrian civil war.
Steve Killelea, executive director of the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent think tank, said there had been a “significant and worrying increase in worldwide terrorism” over the last two years.
He did not have the figures for this year yet but “my gut instinct is that it will be worse. I think we will see an increase.”
The shocking beheadings by the Islamic State group account for only a tiny proportion of terrorist incidents but have a huge emotional impact. “What beheading a Westerner does is evoke a strong reaction,” he said.
“If you have 20 people killed in an attack in Iraq, it has an effect. But if 20 people are killed in downtown London, it has a much stronger effect.”
According to the index, the number of Taliban fighters is estimated at between 36,000 and 60,000, with IS at 20,000, al-Qaida 3,700-19,000, and Boko Haram 500-9,000.
Eighty per cent of lives lost to terrorism in 2013 were in only five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. Since 2000, about 5% of all the 107,000 terrorist deaths have occurred in developed countries, members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which includes most of Europe and the US.
As well as a rise in fatalities, terrorism has also become more widespread. The number of countries experiencing more than 50 deaths rose to 24 in 2013; the previous high had been 19 in 2008.
The report says that the two most successful strategies for ending terrorist groups since the late 1960s have been policing and the initiation of a political process. “These strategies were the main reason for the ending of more than 80% of terrorist organisations that ceased operation. Only 10% of terrorist groups could be said to have achieved their goals and only 7% were eliminated by full military engagement.”
About 50 percent of terrorist attacks claim no lives, while 40 times more people are killed in criminal murders than in terrorist attacks, according to a UN report for 2012.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/51385-141118-report-nearly-10-000-terror-attacks-in-2013
