Deaths caused by terrorist attacks across the world have spiked to their highest level in seven years, new research has found.
There are concerns last October’s attack by Hamas on Israel has stoked a new wave of politically-motivated violence in coming months.
And researchers are concerned about potential attacks when crucial elections are held in about 50 countries, including the United States, Britain and India. Nearly half the world’s population is expected to cast votes.
The warnings come in the Global Terrorism Index 2023, produced by the Australian think-tank, the Institute for Economics & Peace.
Total deaths from terrorism rose by 22 per cent to 8352 last year, the highest since 2017, the study said.
Even excluding the October 7 attacks in the Middle East, fatalities would still have increased by 5 per cent.
The institute’s executive director, Steve Killelea, said, if unchecked, the Gaza violence risked spreading across the world.
“Conflict remains the primary driver of terrorism, yet most wars in the 21st century have been unwinnable and very costly.
“Terrorism also thrives in areas of political instability; it is imperative that current political tensions and minor conflicts do not escalate and that current conflicts are resolved, otherwise further increases in terrorism are likely.”
The research shows that while acts of terrorism across the world dropped by 22 per cent to 3350 last year, the attacks were more deadly and increasingly concentrated.
Sub-Saharan Africa has overtaken the Middle East as the epicentre of global terrorism, which now accounts for more than half of deaths.
The West African nation of Burkina Faso was the worst in the world, with deaths increasing by 68 per cent.
It has been ravaged by growing jihadi attacks linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group that have killed thousands, displaced more than two million people and pushed tens of thousands to the brink of starvation.
Western nations recorded 23 attacks last year, a 55 per cent fall in attacks compared with 2022 and considerably lower than the peak of 176 assaults in 2017.
Sixteen of those attacks occurred in the United States, with only five countries in the West recording any attacks at all, and only Belgium and the US recording any deaths.
