Global Terrorism & Insurgency Attacks Rapidly Increase in Five Years

According to IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre

Terrorism spike seen in Arab Spring countries;
Attacks in Syria almost double in one year

Business Wire

LONDON -- February 13, 2014

The number of attacks by non-state armed groups around the world has rapidly
increased in just five years, according to the IHS Jane’s 2013 Global
Terrorism & Insurgency Attack Index from IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), a leading
global source of critical information and insight. “In 2009, a worldwide total
of 7,217 attacks were recorded from open sources. In 2013, that number
increased by more than 150% to 18,524,” said Matthew Henman, manager of IHS
Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre  (JTIC), which carried out the study.

Key highlights from the IHS Jane’s 2013 Global Terrorism & Insurgency Attack
Index:

  * Global: Significant rises in global militant and non-militant fatalities
  * Arab Spring countries see attacks spike
  * Syria: Attacks almost double between 2012 and 2013
  * Iraq: Suicide attacks quadruple and Al-Qaeda in Iraq re-enters the top
    five most active non-state armed groups in the world
  * Sub-Saharan Africa: Terrorism fatalities rise

Global Trends

“The epicenter of 2013 activity was in the Middle East, with significant
pockets of violence radiating out to neighboring regions in Africa and South
Asia. We have also seen a dramatic rise in the number of militant and
non-militant casualties. In 2012, 13,872 militants and 10,562 non-militants
deaths were recorded from open sources. In 2013, non-militants fatalities
almost doubled to 17,554 and militant fatalities numbered 21,490. These are
some of the largest rises we have recorded in the past several years,” Henman
said.

Arab Spring countries see attack spike

“In 2013, JTIC recorded a spike in activity by non-state armed groups in
Tunisia and Egypt. Attacks in Tunisia grew from 21 in 2012 to 72 in 2013. In
Egypt, the number of attacks recorded jumped from 63 in 2012 to 431 in 2013.
In Libya, there were 237 attacks recorded in 2013 and 81 in 2012. While the
increases in Egypt and Tunisia were both somewhat attributable to the
emergence of Islamist militant groups, violent protests following the deposing
of President Muhammad Morsi in Egypt accounted for the majority of sub-state
violence recorded by JTIC,” Henman said.

Syria’s attack count almost doubles between 2012 and 2013

Henman added that “due to a plurality of factors, the anti-government
insurgency in Syria intensified notably in 2013. Between 2012 and 2013, the
number of attacks recorded by JTIC almost doubled. In 2012, we recorded 2,670
attacks. In 2013, that number jumped to 4,694.”

Suicide attacks quadruple in Iraq; Al-Qaeda in Iraq re-enters the Top 5

“A key indication of the intensifying level of violence in Iraq was that the
number of suicide attacks in the country quadrupled from 2012 to 2013, with
the 2013 total almost triple that recorded in neighboring Syria and almost
double that recorded in Afghanistan,” Henman continued.

“In 2013, 207 attacks were claimed by or attributed to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
This is a 160% increase from the 79 recorded in open sources in 2012,” he
said. “Despite this increase, it does not fully reflect AQI’s predominant role
in driving the 52% increase in the recorded number of attacks in Iraq and the
148% increase in non-militant fatalities. In 2012 there were 2,297 attacks in
Iraq. At the end of 2013, that figure stands at 3,499.”

Sub-Saharan Africa’s rising terrorism risks

Henman concluded that “while the number of recorded attacks has only slightly
increased in sub-Saharan Africa, we are seeing more lethal attacks claiming a
higher number of fatalities. In 2012, JTIC recorded 1,370 attacks in
sub-Saharan Africa with 3,434 fatalities. In 2013, JTIC recorded 1,391 attacks
with 3,903 fatalities. When we look at Nigeria specifically, attacks decreased
from 305 in 2012 to 137 in 2013, but fatalities rose from 1,351 in 2012 to
1,447 in 2013. This was partly due to an intensification of violence by
militant Islamist group Boko Haram, but also a consequence of several
high-profile instances of inter-communal violence across the country.”

Top 10 most active non-state armed groups in 2013

1. Barisan Revolusi Nasional (Thailand)
2. Taliban
3. Islami Chhatra Shibir (Bangladesh)
4. Communist Party of India – Maoist
5. Al-Qaeda in Iraq
6. Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabaab)
7. FARC (Colombia)
8. New People’s Army (Philippines)
9. Jabhat al-Nusra (Syria)
10. Unified Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist

Credit: http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2014-02-13/ajz_yofpII78.html