Index Finds 61 Percent Jump in Terror Attacks in One Year

The number of terrorist attacks around the world skyrocketed 61 percent from 2012 to 2013, a startling new report shows.

The Global Terrorism Index, released Tuesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranks 162 countries based on the impact of terrorist activities as well as an analysis of economic and social factors.

The latest report finds that 17,958 people were killed in terror attacks last year, a rise of 61 percent from the previous year, with 82 percent of the deaths occurring in five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria.

Combined, they accounted for nearly 15,000 fatalities, a summary of the report shows.

Among them, Iraq holds the top spot with about 2,492 terrorist attacks in 2013 that killed 6,362 people, the report says.

The report also identifies the four groups responsible for the deadly destruction
as the Taliban, Boko Haram, the Islamic State (ISIS), and al-Qaida. Their "key commonality," the report says, is that they all represent radical variants of Islam.

The primary method of choice in the terror strikes was explosives, the report finds, but since 2000 just 5 percent of deadly terror strikes have been suicide attacks.

The 2014 report does not include the recent insurgence of ISIS militants.

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