Iraq has ranked as the country most impacted by terrorism every year since 2004. The catalyst for the increase in terrorism in Iraq was the US-led invasion in 2003. The increase was so dramatic that in the year of the invasion, 2003, fatalities from terrorism were nearly five times higher than the total from the years 1998 to 2002.
In 2015 there was a 30 per cent yearly reduction in deaths from terrorism in Iraq. This is related to the reduced influence of ISIL in the country. According to US Central Command, two thirds of the US-led coalition airstrikes occurred in Iraq with the effect of driving ISIL from Iraq to Syria. This reduction in deaths by ISIL in Iraq has been partly offset by an increase in Syria
Dead - 6,960
Injured - 11,900
Property damage -519
Incidents - 2,415
Afghanistan suffered the worst year so far in its war with the Taliban, resulting in nearly 18,000 deaths from the conflict in 2015. Deaths from terrorism also increased to the highest recorded levels, with 5,312 deaths recorded in 2015, up by 18 per cent from the previous year.
As well as the Taliban, there are four other groups that conducted attacks in 2015. The most active of these groups was an ISIL affiliate, the Khorasan Chapter of the Islamic State, which undertook 47 attacks that killed 120 people. They also claimed responsibility for the July 2016 Kabul bombing at a protest which killed at least 80. This branch of ISIL is active in the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan and is reported to be comprised of Pakistani migrants who were former members of Tehrik-i-Taliban.
Dead -5,312
Injured -6,249
Property Damage -525
Incidents -1715
Nigeria experienced a 34 per cent decline in the number of deaths from terrorism in 2015. This was largely due to a decline in the number of attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria.Despite the decrease in deaths from terrorism, Nigeria still experienced a high rate of violent deaths. In addition to terrorism victims, there were at least 4,422 battle-related deaths from the conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian Government in 2015, down from 8,233 in 2014.In 2015 there were 156 bombings that killed 1,638. Nearly two thirds of the bombings in 2015 were suicide bombings, which on average killed ten people per attack. The majority of attacks in Nigeria were in the north-eastern states and particularly Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State where Boko Haram is based.
Dead - 4,940
Injured - 2,786
Property Damage - 247
Incidents - 588