Study: Terror Attacks Soar in 2013, Lebanon Among Most Affected

Lebanon came in 14th place as a country most affected by terrorism in a list of 162 nations, according to a new global study.

The London-based Institute for Economics and Peace said Lebanon got a score of 6.4 and joined 8 other countries that saw increased terrorist attacks in 2013 when compared to 2012.

The country witnessed in the past two years a series of bombings and assassinations linked to the war in neighboring Syria that resulted in hundreds of casualties.

The Institute's Global Terrorism Index placed the bombing of al-Taqwa and Salam mosques in the northern city of Tripoli in August 2013 in a list of 50 worst terrorist attacks worldwide.

It reported four groups dominated the attacks — the Islamic State group, Boko Haram, al-Qaida and the Taliban — and were responsible for 66 percent of the fatalities.

The report described the IS as a group that promotes violence to those who do not adhere to its interpretations.

“ISIL aspires to control the Levant region which includes Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria,” it said.

According to the report, Iraq is the country most affected by terrorism, with 2,492 attacks that killed more than 6,300 people. The IS was responsible for "most" of the deaths in the country.

The report said 82 percent of the deaths from terrorist incidents were in Iraq, Afghanistan,Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria.

The institute also said there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, 44 percent more than the year before.

It added those attacks in 2013 resulted in nearly 18,000 deaths.

G.K.

H.K.