The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), based in Australia, is one of the most important and widely cited research centers that annually publishes a comprehensive report on trends and incidents of terrorism over the past year. This article examines key findings from the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), released in March 2025.
Terrorism and violent extremism have long been serious challenges affecting the political stability and security of nations. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the paradigm of terrorism has shifted, giving rise to various terrorist groups—both large and small—with similar or divergent objectives. Their threatening presence in unstable and vulnerable regions has raised significant concerns among governments, scholars, and research institutions.
The Global Terrorism Index (GTI)
The GTI evaluates and ranks countries based on several factors, including the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries, and resulting damages, assigning scores from 0 to 10. According to the IEP, an act is classified as terrorism if it meets three criteria:
1. Non-state actor involvement – The act must be carried out by non-governmental entities, excluding state-sponsored military conflicts.
2. Intentionality – The act must be deliberate; accidental or unintentional sabotage does not qualify.
3. Violence and threat – The act must involve significant violence, causing casualties (military or civilian) or property damage.
By these standards, the IEP considers all non-state armed groups as terrorist organizations and classifies their intentional, violent, and destructive actions as terrorism.
Terrorism Trends in 2024
According to the 2024 IEP report, terrorism remains a persistent and evolving global threat. While terrorism-related deaths decreased by 13% (to 7,555 fatalities), this decline was primarily due to reduced internal conflicts in Myanmar. Excluding Myanmar, terrorist attacks actually increased by 8%, with Pakistan and Niger being the most affected.
Moreover, the geographical spread of terrorism has expanded significantly. In 2024, 66 countries experienced at least one terrorist attack, up from 58 in 2023. This indicates that terrorism is no longer confined to traditional hotspots like Iraq, Syria, or Pakistan but has spread to previously less-affected regions, including parts of Africa and Europe. This shift suggests that as international pressure and domestic counterterrorism efforts weaken terrorist groups in their traditional strongholds (such as West Asia), they seek new opportunities in more volatile and unstable regions. For example, ISIS, which faced heavy pressure in Syria and Iraq, has now expanded its operations to Pakistan’s Balochistan province and the African Sahel region (stretching from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east).
Additionally, Russia’s war in Ukraine has diverted its military and intelligence resources, reducing its presence in the Sahel region. This, combined with political and security instability in these countries, has created a vacuum exploited by jihadist groups and their Western-backed rivals.
Notably, the Sahel region—particularly Burkina Faso—has emerged as the global epicenter of terrorism in 2024.
The Three Most Affected African Nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger
Burkina Faso (Score: 8.6/10) ranks as the most terrorism-impacted country in 2024. Its northern and eastern regions, near Mali and Niger, accounted for over two-thirds of all attacks.
Mali and Niger (ranked 4th and 5th, respectively) also face severe threats, primarily from Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group formed in 2017 through the merger of several extremist factions. The Economist’s 2022 report identified JNIM as the fastest-growing terrorist group in the world.
Pakistan
The second most impacted country is Pakistan with a score of 8.4. Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan intensified. Two key terrorist groups—Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K)—have become proxies in this conflict. TTP, which fought alongside the Taliban against the U.S., has now turned its focus against Pakistan’s government, becoming one of its most significant non-state armed threats alongside the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces suffered the most, with 96% of attacks occurring in these regions. In 2024, Pakistan recorded 1,081 deaths, 1,548 injuries, and 1,099 terrorist incidents.
Syria
For years, Syria has lived under the dark shadow of extremist groups, particularly ISIS, and now ranks third in the IEP’s 2024 terrorism report. The country saw a 16% surge in terrorist attacks, totaling 430 incidents, with the eastern provinces of Homs and Deir ez-Zor bearing the brunt—accounting for 76% of all attacks. ISIS alone was responsible for 369 attacks and 708 deaths, leaving a devastating mark in 2024. Notably, just two days after the sudden and rapid collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, ISIS capitalized on the ensuing power vacuum and widespread instability, launching 23 additional attacks that killed 91 people. However, the report has drawn criticism for its unbalanced treatment of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a multinational militant group. While HTS’s brutal and terror-inducing actions were dismissed merely as part of Syria’s internal conflicts, the report failed to scrutinize the group’s role—a lapse that undermines the IEP’s claim to impartiality. Even excluding HTS-linked incidents, Syria’s 2024 toll remains grim with 744 killed, 408 wounded, and 430 terrorist attacks.
Conclusion
As noted earlier, terrorist groups continue to pose a critical threat to the survival and security of both citizens and governments worldwide. Far from diminishing, the danger of terrorism has not only persisted but expanded geographically, while simultaneously adapting to leverage cutting-edge technologies.
Currently, emerging technologies—particularly artificial intelligence—are providing substantial advantages to terrorist organizations in key operational areas including, propaganda dissemination, recruitment efforts, target identification, mission precision enhancement. As technological capabilities continue to advance exponentially, we can expect these groups to develop even more sophisticated operational abilities in the coming years. This evolving landscape demands urgent, multifaceted responses such as:
1. Eliminating root causes: Addressing the regional and local conditions that foster terrorist recruitment and growth
2. Enhancing technical capabilities: Strengthening counterterrorism technologies and operational readiness
3. Fostering genuine international cooperation: Establishing effective multilateral collaboration to combat terrorist threats and sources of instability
The path forward requires nothing less than a comprehensive, united global effort to counter this persistent and evolving security challenge.
By Amir Hesam Hashemi, researcher in security and international politics