Regional terrorist upsurge in January

Shaimaa Yahia

There was an increase in terrorist activities in some of the countries of the region during January, a new survey has found.

There were 110 terrorist attacks in regional states especially where there are internal conflicts or that have failed governments, Egyptian think tank, National Center for Strategic Studies, said in its annual Monthly Indicator on Terrorist Activities in the Middle East and the Arab Region.

It said 88 attacks took place in these countries, whereas only 22 attacks took place in regional states that enjoy considerable stability.

The center said the aforementioned attacks included 52 armed attacks as well as 37 bomb attacks.

It added that the attacks also included four attacks with mortars and kidnappings.

Nevertheless, none of the countries of the region witnessed clashes between security personnel and the terrorists, the center said in its monthly indicator.

Syria at the top

Most of the terrorist operations carried out during January took place in Syria, the center said.

It added that Syria alone was the site of 18 terrorist operations. It noted that Afghanistan came second to Syria as far as the number of terrorist attacks in January was concerned.

Somalia came in second position with Afghanistan as well as each of them was the site of 24 terrorist attacks, the center said.

Surprising still, Libya and South Sudan did not witness any terrorist attacks in January, the center said.

This was surprising given the fact that the two countries have their own internal conflicts, it added.