28 April 2006
Change in Definition Causes Rise in Terrorism Report Numbers
Half of incidents caused no deaths, but thousands injured, killed by attacks
Washington -- One thousand children were among those killed or wounded by terrorists in 2005.
This and other statistics can be found in the annex to the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2005, released April 28.
The data appear to indicate a substantial jump in the number of terrorist attacks in 2005, but officials caution the figures cannot be compared accurately to those of previous years because a much broader definition of terrorism now is being used. That definition requires different criteria for counting terrorist incidents.
The authors of the statistical annex point out that examining the number of attacks alone each year never would provide a complete picture of the War on Terror, because “an attack that damages a pipeline and a car bomb attack that kills 100 civilians may each count as one incident in the database.”
Among the findings, which refer only to acts of violence targeting noncombatants:
• Deaths occurred in somewhat less than half of the more than 11,000 terrorist attacks carried out worldwide, with a total of 14,602 fatalities;
• About one-fourth of all persons killed or wounded by terrorists were Muslims;
• Among the 40,000 dead and injured were 1,000 children, 140 teachers, 170 religious workers, 110 journalists, 300 government officials and 6,600 police;
• The number of suicide bombings increased to 360 and accounted for 20 percent of all deaths;
• Worldwide, 34,780 individuals were kidnapped by terrorists in 2005;
• Incidents in Iraq, a central front in the War on Terror, accounted for more than 30 percent of all attacks and 55 percent of all fatalities; and
• In Afghanistan, there were 365 terrorist incidents resulting in the death, injury or kidnapping of 1,533 persons.
The terrorism report is produced annually to meet a congressional requirement for an annual assessment of major terrorist incidents, terrorist group activities and the cooperation of other countries whose help the United States has sought in preventing or punishing terrorist acts. The statistics in the annex are compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, which tracks trends in terrorist groups and incidents, maintains the databank of materials and provides its finding to the Department of State for use in the report.
The full text of Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 is available on the State Department Web site.
For additional information on U.S. policy, see Response to Terrorism.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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