Terrorism deaths declining around the world: report

Deaths caused by terrorism have fallen in the past three years worldwide, a new global study found.

The sixth annual Global Terrorism Index, published by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), said terrorism deaths decreased globally by 27 percent in 2017, which is the third consecutive year of declining death tolls.

Terrorism, however, remains a major threat to global peace, the report said.

The report also showed that most terrorist attacks affect countries where political violence is rampant.

The 10 nations most affected by terrorism were Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and India.

“Conflict and state terror are the principal causes of terrorism,” wrote Steve Killelea, executive chairman of IEP.

The terrorism hot spots “all were involved in at least one violent conflict, and eight were involved in a major war with at least 1,000 battle deaths. These 10 countries accounted for 84 percent of all deaths from terrorism in 2017,” the report said.