Terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorism declined globally in 2016 from levels seen in 2015, according to the State Department in the United States.
For the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 visit https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2016/index.htm. For the report section on Europe, country by country including the UK and Northern Ireland-related terrorism – such as the UK leading on training and equipment to counter the threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – visit https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2016/272231.htm.
The US federal department’s Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Justin Siberell said: “ISIS remained the most capable terrorist organisation globally in 2016, directing and inspiring terror cells, networks, and individuals around the world, even as it faced increased military pressure in Iraq and Syria and suffered considerable territorial losses throughout the year.”
He said that ISIS has relied heavily upon foreign terrorist fighters but was unable to sustain enough of inward flow of new foreign terrorist fighter recruits in 2016 to compensate for battlefield losses. Improved border security measures made it much more difficult for foreign terrorist fighters (who have come from more than 100 countries) to travel to and from Iraq and Syria.
He pointed to more international cooperation in a number of areas, including by expanding information-sharing related to terrorist identities to prevent terrorist travel, and in border and aviation security.
However he admitted that terrorist groups use ungoverned territory and conflict zones as havens, naming ‘Somalia, Yemen, north-eastern Nigeria, portions of the Sinai Peninsula, the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions, and portions of the Philippines’.
The decrease in number of attacks and total deaths due to terrorism in 2016 compared to 2015 was described as largely due to fewer attacks and deaths from terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. At the same time, there was an increase in terrorist attacks and total deaths in several countries, including Iraq, Somalia, and Turkey. The statistics are compiled by the University of Maryland and are not a US Government product. It also covers state sponsors; and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) terrorism, pointing to terrorists’ such as ISIS’ stated intent to acquire, develop, and use those materials.
Pictured: the Southwark Tavern near London Bridge, among the places struck by the terrorist knife attackers on Saturday, June 3.
