Terror attacks worldwide dropped in 2017, report shows

WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (KUNA) -- Terrorist attacks across the world fell by 23 percent in 2017, while total deaths resulting from the attacks decreased by 27 percent when compared to the previous year, according to a report released on Wednesday.
"Although terrorist attacks took place in 100 countries last year, they were concentrated geographically," the Department of State's "Country Reports on Terrorism 2017" indicated.
It showed that Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Pakistan and the Philippines accounted for 59 percent of the attacks, while "70 percent of all deaths due to terrorist attacks occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria." The Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan Sales told reporters that the report "notes a number of major strides that the United States and our international partners made to defeat and degrade terrorist organizations in 2017." "We worked with allies and partners around the world to expand information-sharing, improve aviation security, enhance law enforcement and rule-of-law capacities, in addition to counter terrorist radicalization with a focus on preventing recruitment and recidivism," he added.
He stressed that "despite these many successes, the terrorist landscape grew more complex in 2017," as the so-called Islamic State (IS), along with al-Qaeda and their affiliates "have proven to be resilient, determined and adaptable." "We also are experiencing an increase in attacks by homegrown terrorists, people who have been inspired by IS without having set foot in Syria or Iraq," Sales said, citing "IS-inspired attacks outside the war zone on soft targets and in public spaces." He said that "Iran remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, and is responsible for intensifying multiple conflicts and undermining US interests in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, among other countries.
Sales accused Tehran of "using a number of proxies and other instruments such as Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' QUDS Force." "The threats posed by Iran's support for terrorism are not confined to the Middle East, they are truly global," he said, adding that the "major terrorist adversaries have both the capability and intent to strike the US and our allies." The report showed "significant terrorist activities and safe havens continued to persist in the Middle East and North Africa throughout 2017," despite IS losing much territory in Iraq and Syria.
It gave Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries credit for "taking important steps to combat terrorism," naming the US-GCC summit in May 2017 as an example. (end) si.nam