MAPPING GLOBAL TERROR
The number of attacks across the world remains historically high despite falling from a peak in 2014
AN average of nearly 30 terrorist attacks a day took place across the world last year.
Data from the Global Terrorism Database reveals that 10,900 attacks killed 18,370 innocent victims in 2017.
A further 8,075 terrorists died in the attacks.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as Isil or Isis) was responsible for one in every 8.3 attacks and one in every 3.7 deaths in 2017. The Taliban and al-Shabaab were the next most active with 907 attacks (4,925 deaths) and 573 attacks (1,894 deaths), respectively. Although Isis remains the deadliest group, it was responsible for 10 per cent fewer attacks and 40 per cent fewer deaths in 2017 compared to 2016, suggesting that ongoing military intervention against it might be proving effective.
More than half of all attacks last year took place in just four countries: Iraq (23 per cent), Afghanistan (13 per cent), India (nine per cent) and Pakistan (seven per cent).
It is perhaps unsurprising then than half of all deaths occurred in Iraq (24 per cent), Afghanistan (23 per cent) and Syria (eight per cent).
The deadliest attack happened in Mogadishu in Somalia, when terrorists detonated explosives in a truck near a hotel, killing more than 580 people and injuring more than 300.
While the number of terrorist attacks remains high in historical terms, it has actually fallen for the third year in a row.
Terrorist violence peaked in 2014 with nearly 17,000 attacks and more than 45,000 total deaths.
Erin Miller, programme manager for the Global Terrorism Database, said: “While three consecutive years of decreases is encouraging, terrorist violence remains extraordinarily high compared to historical trends. “In the decade prior to the September 11 attacks, the frequency and lethality of terrorist violence worldwide each year was less than one-third of what we saw last year.” In the UK alone there were five terrorist attacks in 2017 - compared to just one in 2016, when MP Jo Cox was murdered. The five attacks last year killed 39 people, including the perpetrators.