ISIS extremists parade down a street in Raqqa, Syria, on Jan. 14, 2014. (ISIS Website via AP)
Worldwide terrorism has decreased for the first time since 2012, the U.S. State Department announced on June 2.
The total number of terrorist attacks in 2015 decreased by 13 percent
compared to that of 2014, according to the yearly report on global
terrorism with data compiled by the University of Maryland.
The number of fatalities due to terrorist attacks declined by 14
percent, a result of fewer incidents and deaths in countries Iraq,
Pakistan, and Nigeria.
However, several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt,
Syria, and Turkey, saw an increase in terrorist attacks last year.
In 2015, attacks took place in 92 countries, but were mostly
concentrated in certain places, like previous years. More than 55
percent of all terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, and Nigeria. The report says 74 percent of all
fatalities due to terrorist attacks took place in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Nigeria, Syria, and Pakistan.
Although the report shows terrorist attacks happening in other countries, the numbers don’t “provide the full context.”
“The United States and our partners around the world face a
significant challenge as we seek to contend with the return of foreign
terrorist fighters from Iraq and Syria, the risk of terrorist groups
exploiting migratory movements, and new technology and communications
platforms that enable terrorist groups to more easily recruit adherents
and inspire attacks,” said Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Justin Siberell.
“ISIL remain the greatest terrorism threat globally,” he emphasized.
The State Department says that although ISIS, also known as ISIL, has
lost territory in the Middle East, it still continues to occupy large
areas of Iraq and Syria. The terrorist organization reached a high point
in the spring of 2015, but began to deteriorate afterwards. ISIS lost
40 percent of the territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria by the end
of 2015, and has continued to lose ground.
The State Department says ISIS-aligned groups have established
branches in parts of the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, the
Russian North Caucuses, and South Asia. Those groups derived from
pre-existing terrorist networks, and many of them have their own local
motives.
Supporters
of the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, protest against Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and the international coalition in Aleppo on
Sept. 26, 2014. Al-Qaeda and ISIS are competing for influence over the
global jihadist movement. (Fadi al-Halabi/AFP/Getty Images)
The report says al-Qaeda still poses a threat, even though the organization has severely diminished since 2001.
Al-Qaeda Aaffiliates like al-Shabaab, al-Nusrah Front, and ISIS and
its branches were responsible for a number of major terrorist attacks
in 2015, including the attacks in France at the offices of satirical
paper “Charlie Hebdo” and the shootings and bombings in Paris on Nov.
13, 2015.
Other attacks occurred last year in Beirut, Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Tunisia, and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane in Egypt.
The United States saw various attacks in 2015 carried out by lone
wolves, some inspired by ISIS. Those incidents included the shootings in
San Bernardino, California; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Garland, Texas.
People
gather at a makeshift memorial in front of “Le carillon” restaurant on
Nov. 16, 2015, in the 10th district of Paris, following a series of
coordinated terrorists attacks on Nov. 13. (Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty
Images)
The State Department says social media has been a tool for terrorism.
ISIS has been using the internet “as a platform for propaganda purposes
and, more alarmingly, recruitment.”
The use of the web by ISIS makes it different from al-Qaeda, which
was “built around essentially clandestine cells that have very strict
sort of membership requirements.”
When it comes to state sponsors of terror, the report listed Iran, Sudan, and Syria.
The report specified Iran as being the leading sponsor of global
terrorism. The State Department the United States “continues to work to
disrupt Iran’s support for terrorism.”
Emergency
personnel gather at the site of a twin suicide bombing in Burj
al-Barajneh, in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut on November
12, 2015. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)
The agency says Iran continues to provide support to the Hezbollah,
Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Iraq and
throughout the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Syria continues to be listed as a sponsor of terror since
1979, as the Assad regime relentlessly supports various terrorist groups
affecting the stability of the region, even amid the nation’s unrest.
Sudan was designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1993 due to
concerns about support to terrorist groups to include the Abu Nidal
Organization, Palestine Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
This is the first time Cuba is not on the list of terrorism sponsors
after the country was removed in May of last year amid reconciliations
between the United States and the island nation.
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