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Utøya, Christchurch, Munich, Charlottesville or El Paso: attacks from the extreme right have increased massively in recent years. Researchers have counted for the »Global Terrorism Index 2020«: In North America, Western Europe and Oceania, the number of these crimes has increased by 250 percent since 2014. In the case of deaths, the increase was more than 700 percent in five years. In 2019, a total of 89 people died in such acts.
There are now more attacks from the right than at any other time in the past 50 years, the researchers write in the report. It is published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a European think tank.
The total number of victims of terrorism has decreased
“As a new decade begins, we see new terrorist threats. The rise of right-wing extremism in the West and the decline in the Sahel are excellent examples, “said the institute’s executive director, Steve Killelea. Currently, the Islamist side is experiencing increasing attacks from smaller groups sympathetic to the so-called” Islamic State “(EI), as in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Europe, for example in the recent incidents in France and Austria.
Overall, however, the number of deaths from terrorism has fallen again: in the last five years it has fallen by almost 60 percent. In 2019, it was just under 14,000 deaths worldwide. Compared to the previous year, this was a decrease of 15 percent. In addition, fewer and fewer countries are affected by terrorism: Last year, 63 countries registered at least one victim of terrorism, the lowest number since 2013.
Fewer victims of the Taliban
The resistance of many highly developed Western societies has waned in recent years, the study authors write. The corona pandemic could exacerbate this trend and lead to further political instability due to uncertain economic prospects. Therefore, measures should be taken to deprive terrorist organizations of their media presence and funding and to prevent them from gaining new followers.
Although the number of victims of Islamist terrorist attacks remains in the thousands, the study authors recorded a significant decline. The influence and power of the Islamic State is constantly diminishing. According to the report, for the first time since the terrorist militia was activated, the death toll was less than 1,000. The organization responsible for the majority of the victims of terrorist attacks is still the Taliban, although the trend is downward here as well.
Persistent crises remain the main drivers of terrorism, according to the study. More than 96 percent of terrorist attacks occurred in countries with ongoing conflicts such as Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia or Yemen.
