Global violence index finds fewer deaths for 3rd year

WASHINGTON (AP) — An annual terrorism index finds deaths have dropped for a third straight year.

The Institute for Economics and Peace recorded nearly 19,000 deaths last year in its annual Global Terrorism Index. That is a decrease of 27 percent from a year earlier and down 44 percent from a peak in 2014.

The Australia-based organization that released the study Wednesday cites military defeats suffered by the Islamic State and other groups such as Boko Haram and counterterrorism measures as the main reasons for the decline in the number of deaths.

Afghanistan recorded the largest number of deaths attributed to terrorism. There was a sharp drop in deaths in Europe but an increase globally in the number of attacks attributed to far-right groups.