Bangladesh 22nd in global terror index

Bangladesh experienced more terrorist attacks last year compared to those in the previous two years, according to a report by the Institute of Economics and Peace.

The country ranked 22nd among 130 nations in the Global Terrorism Index 2016. It was 25th in the 2015 index and 23rd in the 2014 index.

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According to the report released yesterday by the Australia-based non-profit think tank, nearly half of all terrorist attacks across the world occurred in four countries -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Four percent of the global terrorist attacks took place in Bangladesh in 2015.

Iraq topped the 2016 index with 20 percent of the total terrorist attacks taking place in the country. Afghanistan ranked second, accounting for 14 percent of such attacks. With eight percent of attacks, Pakistan was fourth, and India, with seven percent of attacks, was eighth in the index.

The report said, “2015 was also a difficult year for Bangladesh, resulting in the most attacks and deaths since at least 2000, although the lethality rate per attack was low.

“There were 459 attacks which resulted in 75 deaths. Historically, terrorism in Bangladesh has been carried out by local groups such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a group which was allegedly involved in the July 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Dhaka.”

The report, however, finds that deaths from terrorism decreased by 10 percent in

2015 to 29,376. “This is the first decrease in number of deaths recorded since 2010.”

This is the fourth edition of the Global Terrorism Index which provides a summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last 16 years, covering the period from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2015.