Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Los Angeles Times
May 1, 2007
Most of the incidents and deaths occurred in the Mideast and Asia, the State Department finds.
By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Deaths and injuries from terrorist attacks worldwide increased sharply last year, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, with government officials, police and security guards coming under greater attack than ever before, the State Department concluded in its annual survey of global terrorism released Monday.
The U.S. government's study on terrorist trends and attacks found that more than 20,000 people died and more than 38,000 were injured in about 14,000 incidents last year, an increase of nearly 6,000 deaths, or 40%, over 2005, according to the department's "Country Reports on Terrorism 2006."
As in 2005, the vast majority of incidents and deaths occurred in the Middle East and South and Central Asia, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. troops and local forces are battling militants. The two regions also accounted for 90% of the 291 attacks considered high-casualty incidents because they killed 10 or more people, the report says.
The study finds that 45% of all incidents considered terrorist attacks, about 6,600 of them, occurred in Iraq, killing at least 13,340 people. The Iraq fatalities made up about 65% of the worldwide total of victims for the year. A United Nations report this year estimates that there were nearly 35,000 civilian casualties in Iraq last year, but does not blame terrorism for all of them.
As fighting has intensified in Afghanistan, 749 attacks were reported there in 2006, an increase of more than 50% over the 491 attacks reported for 2005, the U.S. report says. At least 1,040 people were killed in Afghanistan, up from 684 the prior year.
Russell Travers, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, which compiled the statistics, said analysts used the State Department's definition of terrorist attacks: violence against noncombatants. That definition includes many attacks in Iraq that some contend are acts of guerrilla warfare. The figures do not include attacks on U.S. troops.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the report "another reminder that the Bush administration has failed to make America more secure."
At a news briefing to discuss the report, Frank C. Urbancic Jr., acting State Department counterterrorism coordinator, acknowledged that the statistics could be used to question the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures.
"People who want to draw conclusions or who have prejudgments, they will draw those conclusions," he said, defending U.S. and coalition efforts.
The report says more than 11,200 government officials and police were attacked in 2006, up from 9,500 in 2005. Also, more than 1,800 children were victims of attacks in 2006, an increase of 80%, although officials said there was no orchestrated effort to target children.
The annual report is mandated by Congress as a way of informing policymakers, the public and allies about trends in terrorism. Critics of the Bush administration have accused officials in recent years of manipulating the statistics for political gain.
The 335-page report also concludes that violence against noncombatants rose by 65% in eastern and sub-Saharan Africa, particularly as a result of attacks associated with turmoil in or near Sudan and Nigeria.
May 1, 2007
Most of the incidents and deaths occurred in the Mideast and Asia, the State Department finds.
By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Deaths and injuries from terrorist attacks worldwide increased sharply last year, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, with government officials, police and security guards coming under greater attack than ever before, the State Department concluded in its annual survey of global terrorism released Monday.
The U.S. government's study on terrorist trends and attacks found that more than 20,000 people died and more than 38,000 were injured in about 14,000 incidents last year, an increase of nearly 6,000 deaths, or 40%, over 2005, according to the department's "Country Reports on Terrorism 2006."
As in 2005, the vast majority of incidents and deaths occurred in the Middle East and South and Central Asia, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. troops and local forces are battling militants. The two regions also accounted for 90% of the 291 attacks considered high-casualty incidents because they killed 10 or more people, the report says.
The study finds that 45% of all incidents considered terrorist attacks, about 6,600 of them, occurred in Iraq, killing at least 13,340 people. The Iraq fatalities made up about 65% of the worldwide total of victims for the year. A United Nations report this year estimates that there were nearly 35,000 civilian casualties in Iraq last year, but does not blame terrorism for all of them.
As fighting has intensified in Afghanistan, 749 attacks were reported there in 2006, an increase of more than 50% over the 491 attacks reported for 2005, the U.S. report says. At least 1,040 people were killed in Afghanistan, up from 684 the prior year.
Russell Travers, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, which compiled the statistics, said analysts used the State Department's definition of terrorist attacks: violence against noncombatants. That definition includes many attacks in Iraq that some contend are acts of guerrilla warfare. The figures do not include attacks on U.S. troops.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the report "another reminder that the Bush administration has failed to make America more secure."
At a news briefing to discuss the report, Frank C. Urbancic Jr., acting State Department counterterrorism coordinator, acknowledged that the statistics could be used to question the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures.
"People who want to draw conclusions or who have prejudgments, they will draw those conclusions," he said, defending U.S. and coalition efforts.
The report says more than 11,200 government officials and police were attacked in 2006, up from 9,500 in 2005. Also, more than 1,800 children were victims of attacks in 2006, an increase of 80%, although officials said there was no orchestrated effort to target children.
The annual report is mandated by Congress as a way of informing policymakers, the public and allies about trends in terrorism. Critics of the Bush administration have accused officials in recent years of manipulating the statistics for political gain.
The 335-page report also concludes that violence against noncombatants rose by 65% in eastern and sub-Saharan Africa, particularly as a result of attacks associated with turmoil in or near Sudan and Nigeria.