GTI Report 2022: Afghanistan has again topped the list of the most terrorist-affected nation last year. According to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report 2022, this is the fourth consecutive year that Kabul bagged the first position. The rank came despite attacks and deaths falling by 75 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.
The GTI does not include acts of state repression and violence by state actors and, as such, acts committed by the Taliban are no longer included in the scope of the report since they took control of the government.
Islamic State remained the deadliest terror group
The deadliest terrorist groups in the world in 2022 were Islamic State (IS) and its affiliates, followed by al-Shabaab, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Institute for Economics and Peace reported. IS remained the deadliest terror group globally for the eighth consecutive year, recording the most attacks and deaths of any group in 2022.
Despite this, terrorism deaths attributed to IS and its affiliate groups, Islamic State - Khorasan Province (ISK), Islamic State - Sinai Province (ISS) and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), declined by 16 per cent. However, there has been a rapid increase in deaths attributed to unknown jihadists in the countries where ISWA operates, increasing by 17 times since 2017 to 1,766 terrorism deaths.
Given the location, many of these are likely unclaimed attacks by ISWA. If most of the deaths caused by unknown jihadists were included as IS terrorism deaths, then the outcome would have been similar to 2021. Eighteen countries experienced death from terrorism caused by IS in 2022, a slight decrease from 20 countries the year prior.
Know the position of India and Pakistan
Meanwhile, Pakistan bagged the sixth position on the list, and India, which is highly affected by Islamabad-sponsored terrorism, secured the 13th position.
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