Deaths from terror attack are down but threat is far from over, says Global Terrorism Index

Sydney, Jan 23: The 2018 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) which was recently released by Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) showed that deaths caused by acts of terror have gone down significantly though experts have cautioned governments that the threat is far from over.

According to a report in Vision for Humanity, despite the slide in number of fatalities, European security officials need to be aware of emerging threats in faraway places and "new inflammatory dynamic between far-east and Islamist extremists" that have fuelled uncertainty at home.

The GTI report showed that Europe had the best year-on-year percentage improvement with total fatalities decreasing by 75 per cent. It said increase in counter-terrorism spending and security measures have curbed lethality of attacks though there was a rise in the number of incidents in western Europe.

"Speaking at an event hosted by IEP and Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, security expert and associate professor Dr Alastair Reed, reminded governments that the threat of contemporary terrorism remains despite IEP's positive findings," the Vision for Humanity Report said.

"One of the legacies of the rise of the Islamic State terrorism and foreign fighter phenomenon in recent years, is that it has brought home to governments that terrorism is an interconnected global phenomenon, which can't be compartmentalised and ignored as long as it is in a different part of the world." Dr Reed was quoted as saying.

He said even though the Islamic State has been reduced significantly and the Syrian conflict is nearing its end, it is important for the security agencies not to turn complacent and the issue of terrorist threat is addressed at home as well as abroad.

Dr Reed cautioned the European Union saying the latter could not turn complacent about the several terror hotspots in the world and reminded that both Africa and South Asia regions have operational al Qaeda and IS affiliates.