Last year saw 24,202 militant attacks carried out around the world, climbing from the 18,987 seen in 2015, according to a new report from IHS Markit – stats that might well encourage more businesses worldwide to invest in bomb blast window film and other security products to help protect their members of staff if an attack does take place in their hometown.
The survey revealed that Syria and Iraq saw the most attacks (45 per cent in all), with 7,497 taking place in the former and 3,350 in the latter. Islamic State was responsible for nearly 18 per cent of all recorded attacks on a global scale, as well as 39 per cent of all non-militant fatalities.
IS was found to be the most operationally active, non-state armed group tracked by JTIC (which uses open source data to compile its database of global violence by non-state armed groups and individuals).
“In 2016, we saw activity attributed to or claimed by Islamic State outside of the Middle East rise. These kinds of attacks account for 16 percent of all Islamic State attacks in 2016, but this is a marked increase from just eight per cent in 2015,” head of HIS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre Matthew Henman said.
Interestingly, further research from ABTA recently revealed that terrorist attacks worldwide are having an impact on tourism in many countries, with Brits opting increasingly for staycations rather than going to places like Turkey, the Americas, Asia and the Caribbean. If you are going overseas, check out the Foreign Office website so you can find out if there is anything to worry about in your chosen destination.
