CALIFORNIA: The Esri Story Maps team in collaboration with PeaceTech Lab developed a 2017 Terrorist Attacks map thorough crowdsourcing data from Wikipedia to present a chronology of registered terrorist attacks around the globe.
In recent years, an increasing number of terrorist attacks have shocked communities around the world. Many of the gravest attacks have occurred in nations often overlooked by media, such as Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, and Bangladesh, as well as in more familiar war-torn locales like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
According to the map, there have been 1,125 terrorist attacks in all over the world due to which 7, 580 fatalities were recorded.
Moreover, the map divides eight different categories of terrorist organisations: Boko Haram, Islamic State, PKK, al Qaeda, al-Shabaab, Taliban, other and unknown.
Boko Haram
A radical Islamic militant organisation based in northern Nigeria, but with active cells in neighbouring Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. The organisation is allied with the so-called Islamic State, but it operates independently. Boko Haram was the deadliest terrorist organisation in 2014, responsible for at least 6,600 deaths. The recent map shows during last year, it conducted 100 suspected and acclaimed terrorist attacks with 699 fatalities.
Islamic State
IS, which is also known as ISIL, ISIS, Daesh, Wilayat Sayna and Abu Sayyaf, is a radical Islamic militant organisation and self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate that currently controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria, and that claims to have official branches in at least a dozen other countries. The group’s extremist ideology espouses violence against civilians and non-combatants. Experts consider ISIL to be the largest, best organised, and most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world today. It 417 attacks in several regions around the world still which is highest in the number of attacks happened in 2017 with 3,286 fatalities.
PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party)
A militant Kurdish organisation is based in south-eastern Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. Unlike the other groups on this list, the PKK is not motivated by a religious ideology, but rather, a desire to establish an independent Kurdish state. The group primarily targets Turkish government and military facilities. There were at least 42 attacks with 61 fatalities have been suspected to be held by PKK.
Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda, AQAP, AQIM or AQIS is a radical Islamic militant organisation primarily active in the Middle East and North Africa, but with active cells in over 20 countries. The group’s ability to wage war has been weakened by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and the subsequent death of its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, in 2011. The map list 50 attacks with 183 causalities which had been conducted by al Qaeda.
Al-Shabaab
Al-Shabaab East Africa based radical Islamic militant organisation is allied with al Qaeda but operates independently. The group is one of the primary belligerents in Somalia’s ongoing civil war, although it controls little territory. Al-Shabaab did 75 attacks in which 962 fatalities have been registered.
Taliban
An Islamic militant organisation and political movement based in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. The Taliban officially governed Afghanistan from 1996 until the US-led invasion in 2001. During its rule, the Taliban gained a reputation for unfettered brutality against civilians, especially women and Afghanistan’s Hazara ethnic minority. The organization continues to maintain an active presence throughout Afghanistan and western Pakistan. There were 100 attacks of different factions of Taliban which have killed almost 1059 people.
Meanwhile, there are two separate categories, one is for those attacks that committed by organizations not included on this list, and the number of such attacks are 316 attacks with 1,027 fatalities. The last category includes unclaimed attacks, and attacks committed by unidentified organizations or individuals, number such attacks are 25 attacks, 313 fatalities.
Terrorist attacks in Pakistan
The list also shows that out of 1,125, 55 terrorist attacks targeted various cities of Pakistan which resulted in 466 casualties. Chaman, Quetta, Peshawar, Mastung, Karachi, Lahore, Kohat, Gwadar, Parachinar, Nankana Sahib, Charsadda, Sehwan, Dera Ismail Khan, Wana, Sheikhupura were under the attacked cities.
Punjab: 6 attacks, 54 fatalities
Lahore: 4 attacks, 53 fatalities
Nankana Sahib: 1 attack, 1 fatality
Sheikhupura: 1 attack, 0 fatalities
Balochistan: 27 attacks, 124 fatalities
Chaman: 3 attacks, 5 fatalities
Quetta: 19 attacks, 78 fatalities
Mastung: 2 attacks, 28 fatalities
Gwadar: 3 attacks, 13 fatalities
KP: 10 attacks, 37 fatalities
Peshawar: 7 attacks, 25 fatalities
Kohat: 1 attack, 4 fatalities
Dera Ismail Khan: 1 attack, 1 fatality
Charsadda: 1 attack, 7 fatalities
Sindh: 7 attacks, 104 fatalities
Karachi: 6 attacks, 13 fatalities
Sehwan: 1 attack, 91 fatalities
FATA: 5 attacks, 147 fatalities
Parachinar: 4 attacks, 141 fatalities
Wana: 1 attack, 6 fatalities