The number of deaths from terrorist attacks surged by a record 80 percent to set an all-time high last year, according to a major new survey of global patterns of violence.
The number of people killed by terrorist acts grew to 32,658 last year from 18,111 in 2013, according to the Global Terrorism Index produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Just two groups — the jihadi extremist group Islamic State and Boko Haram, a Nigerian-based group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March — accounted for 51 percent of the deaths.
Especially vulnerable are ordinary citizens, who are increasingly the victims of terror strikes: The deaths of private citizens shot up twice as rapidly as the number of overall deaths, increasing 172 percent from 2013 to 2014, the institute said in its latest annual survey of terrorist activity worldwide.
“The significant increase in terrorist activity has meant that its ramifications are being felt more widely throughout the world,” said Steve Killelea, executive chairman of the institute, based at the University of Maryland.
The number of countries counting more than 500 deaths a year from terrorism more than doubled in 2014 — from five to 11, including Somalia, Ukraine, Yemen, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Cameroon.
The number of countries which suffered at least one terror-related fatality from terrorism grew from 59 in 2013 to 67 in 2014.
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“Lone-wolf” attackers have been responsible for 70 percent of deaths in the last decade in Western countries, but the study showed Islamic fundamentalism is not the main terrorism force in Western countries. Political extremists, nationalists, racial and religious supremacists account for 80 percent of deaths caused by such lone operators.
The highest numbers of terrorist-related deaths in 2014 were concentrated in five countries, with 78 percent of all deaths and 57 percent of all attacks occurring in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria.
“Ten of the eleven countries most affected by terrorism also have the highest rate of refugees and internal displacement,” Mr. Killelea said. “This highlights the strong interconnectedness between the current refugee crisis, terrorism and conflict.”
The economic toll from terrorism is also increasing. The survey put the cost to the global economy from terrorist in 2014 at $52.9 billion, up 61 percent from 2013.
More than 60 percent of the world’s countries reported no terrorist-related fatalities, the study showed, and fewer than 3 percent of the terrorist deaths occurred in the U.S. and other Western countries.
Topping the charts are the numbers of foreign fighters pouring into Iraq and Syria from about 100 countries, including the Middle East and Northern Africa, Europe and Turkey. Estimates of foreign fighters are now between 25,000 and 30,000 since 2011, with the surge continuing into 2015 as over 7,000 foreign fighters crossed the borders into Iraq and Syria in the first half of this year.
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The survey found that of the 10 countries with the most refugees, only Pakistan ranked as one of highest terrorism-affected countries. Germany, which houses the second largest number of refugees, has not had a single death from terrorism since 2007.
• Meghan Bartlett can be reached at mbartlett@washingtontimes.com.
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