Number Of Terrorist Attacks Worldwide Drops By Over 20% - US State Dept.

The number of terrorist attacks around the world declined by more than 20 percent last year, the US State Department said in a report on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th September, 2018) The number of terrorist attacks around the world declined by more than 20 percent last year, the US State Department said in a report on Wednesday.

"The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2017 decreased by 23 percent and total deaths due to terrorist attacks decreased by 27 percent, compared to 2016," the report said.

The overall trend, the report added, was largely due to a dramatic drop in attacks and deaths in Iraq.

The report noted that 24 percent of all deaths in terrorist attacks in 2017 were perpetrator deaths, down from 26 percent in 2016.

Nearly 60 percent of all terrorist attacks took place in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Pakistan and the Philippines in 2017.

And, according to the report, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria accounted for 70 percent of terrorist attack-related deaths.

Of the 100 countries that suffered a terrorist attack last year several saw the number of attacks and total deaths increase, including Kenya, Somalia and the United Kingdom, the report said.

The Islamist State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) was responsible for more attacks and deaths than any other organization in 2017. The number of attacks and deaths attributable to the group, however, declined year over year by 23 percent and 53 percent, respectively, according to the report.