Four deadliest groups in 2019

The Taliban were the deadliest group for the second-consecutive year. The other three deadliest groups were Boko Haram, ISIL and Al-shabaab.

Taliban: Emerged in Afghanistan in 1994 as a reactionary group that combined the Mujahideen that had previously fought against the 1979 Soviet invasion. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996. Boko Haram: Islamist group, formally known as Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-jihad, had a surge in terrorist activity in 2019, following a period of steady decline. Boko Haram ranked as the second-deadliest terrorist group in 2019 and remains the deadliest in sub-saharan Africa.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant: Often referred to as ISIL, ISIS or Daesh, was the third deadliest terrorist organization in 2019. ISIL emerged from local militant outfits in Iraq in the early 2000s. Al-shabaab: A Salafist militant group active in East Africa, it first emerged in a battle over Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu in the summer of 2006. As an al-qaida affiliate based in Somalia and Kenya, Al-shabaab pursues Islamic statehood aspirations in Somalia.