29 April 2004
State Department Report, April 29: Terrorism Update
Terrorism remains a problem despite decline in attacks, Black says
The Department of State's top counterterrorism official said April 29 that in 2003 "we saw unprecedented collaboration between the United States and foreign partners to defeat terrorism."
Ambassador Cofer Black, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, stated, "We also saw the lowest number of international terrorist attacks since 1969, and that's a 34-year low," "There were 190 acts of international terrorism in 2003. There were also fewer casualties caused by terrorists last year. A total of 307 persons were killed in last year's attacks, far fewer than the 725 killed during 2002."
During a press briefing in Washington marking the release of the State Department's report, "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003," Black said the low level of terrorist attacks last year does not mean the problem is fading away.
"Indeed, we are currently at war with terrorists, with major fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where terrorists are working with other elements to launch attacks against coalition targets," he said. "But whether they target combatants or civilians, terrorists must know that we and our partner nations around the world will not relent in our global effort to defeat them."
He said the United States continues to work with like-minded foreign partners to pursue the global campaign against terrorism on five fronts: diplomatic, military, economic, intelligence and law enforcement.
"On that score, it's important to recognize that the record clearly shows America's most effective counterterrorism strategy is building the will and skill of indigenous forces to fight terrorism, on their own turf and in their own self-interest," he said.
Black said that the terrorist attacks carried out last year were indiscriminate and intended to cause mass casualties.
"They went after soft targets, such as places of worship, commuter trains, hotels, police stations and crowded markets," he said.
Black also said that there are strong indications that al-Qaida is still planning to carry out mass casualty attacks against Americans and other targets worldwide.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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