More countries hit by terror attacks but fewer killed in 2016

A policeman stands guard by floral tributes following the Nice truck attack in which 86 were killed and 400 injured (AP)

LONDON: A record number of countries witnessed terror attacks in 2016 but there were fewer deaths as a result, according to a report published on Wednesday.
A total of 106 nations were hit by attacks last year, killing more than 25,000 people, according to the Global Terrorism Index published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
But even as more countries were subjected to terror attacks in 2016 than since institute started tracking data in 2000, the violent episodes resulted in fewer deaths than in previous years.
This suggests that while extremist activities may be expanding across the globe, the tactical capabilities of terrorist cells is, at least for now, being curbed.
In 2014, as governments in West Africa and the Middle East struggled to contain the onslaught of Islamist insurgencies, more than 30,000 people died in terror-related incidents. In 2016, terrorism’s global death toll was 22 percent lower, the report highlighted, with major reductions seen in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Syria.
But the concern about the expansion of terror operations across the globe gives cause for concern. The impact has been felt across Europe and the OECD more broadly: 2016 was, according to the report, the “most deadly for terrorism for OECD member countries since 1988,” with the marked exception of 2001.
The UK has witnessed five attacks in 2017, including the bombing of a packed pop concert, resulting in the death of more than 30 people. More than three in four terror attacks across OECD countries since 2014 have been “directed or inspired” by Daesh, the report notes, with an increase in “soft” civilian targets and attacks involving stabbings and lorry-rammings.
As Daesh suffers major losses on the battlefield, retreating from all the major urban centers it once controlled, fears are mounting that some of those experienced fighters may leave the erstwhile “caliphate” and sow seeds of terror across the globe, possibly joining “new radical permutations” of the weakened organization, the report highlighted.
While 2016 saw a general tactical and territorial weakening of Daesh, the group managed to kill scores of people in terror attacks across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq. Nearly 10,000 people died in terrorism-related incidents in Iraq in 2016, an increase of 40 percent over the previous year.
According to Christina Schori Liang from the Geneva Center for Security Policy, who contributed to the report, Daesh is “evolving into a form of leaderless jihad which doesn’t portend well for the future.” With simpler terror attacks requiring less time and coordination, attacks either in Europe or in the former Daesh heartland may increase in the future.
Moreover, as the world’s gaze has fixed upon Daesh in recent years, Al-Qaeda has been quietly amassing support and is, says Schori Liang, “stronger than it was 16 year ago when it launched the Sept. 11 attacks.”
Despite the upward trend in attacks on European soil, the vast majority of terror-related activities occur in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, with victims hailing overwhelmingly from countries in these regions. Just 1 percent of all terror-related deaths took place in OECD countries, the report notes.
Aside from the human toll, terrorism continues to tax world markets, costing the global economy some $84 billion in 2016, according to the report. Other forms of violence, including formal war operations, did however have a far bigger economic impact, amounting to some $14.3 trillion in the same year, as conflicts across the world led to massive material losses.