During January to June 2017, a total of 10 352 non-militant fatalities were caused by non-state armed groups, down 20% from 13 025 deaths in the previous six months, according to a new report from IHS Markit.
“While the number of fatalities dropped significantly in the first half of 2017, it’s worth noting that the total number of attacks only fell by 1% to 13 068 from the 13 204 attacks recorded during July to December 2016,” says Matthew Henman, head of the Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC) at IHS Markit.
“This was principally a consequence of a reduction in mass-casualty violence by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. As the group has experienced growing territorial losses it has increasingly transitioned back to lower-level guerrilla operations in these areas.”
Key findings from the report include:
* Worldwide attacks by the Islamic State increased by 38% to total 2 962 in the first half of 2017, but non-militant fatalities decreased by 17% compared to the prior six months.
* Attacks by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a newly-formed militant Islamist organization structured around former Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fath al-Sham, rose by 18% in the first half of 2017, totalling 395. Subsequent fatalities increased by 140 percent in the same period.
* Fatalities attributed to the Turkish PKK in the first half of 2017 sank by 69% while total attacks fell by 27% compared to the latter half of 2016.
* The number of non-militant fatalities in the UK increased more than twenty-fold in January to June 2017 to reach 44, while the number of attacks increased by 37% compared to the previous six months. This was almost entirely a consequence of mass casualty attacks in London and Manchester during the period.
