Countries Hit Hardest By Terrorists

Last year, France experienced the largest decrease in terrorist attacks since 2013. The only terrorism-related death recorded in France last year was a police employee who was fatally stabbed by a Tunisian man living in the country without authorization, who had expressed interest in Islamist terrorist groups but was not known to be affiliated with them. Five other terrorist attacks in France have been attributed to far-left groups and one to a Corsican separatist organization. Still, compared to 2011, the country’s ranking on the list worsened.

Good news for Nepal, which improved in ranking over the past decade. There was only one terrorist attack and no fatalities recorded in the country – the first time since 2014. The mountainous landlocked South Asian country between India and Tibet regularly grapples with Maoist militants of the Communist Party of Nepal, which waged a “people’s war” from 1996 to 2006 that killed 13,000 people. Residual violence from that struggle continues, albeit at a much more subdued level.

Germany recorded 19 terrorist attacks in 2021, the highest of any Western country as the country’s ranking slid over the decade. It now ranks fourth worst overall in impact of terrorism in Europe. Still, the number of attacks declined by 34% last year compared to 2020. Also, there were no deaths in 2021 while there were 11 in 2020. All of the attacks in 2021 came from far-left groups and individuals using incendiary devices against businesses and infrastructure.

Like its adversary Israel, Palestine experienced a slight improvement in terrorist acts in 2021. Still, civilians in this partially recognized state continue to confront internal acts of terror perpetuated by Hamas militants against suspected Israeli sympathizers, on top of the occasional barrages from Israeli Defense Forces responding to rocket attacks from Gaza, one of the most densely-populated urban areas in the world. Israel remains the biggest threat to Palestinian civilians as it conducts military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

The U.K. recorded 12 terrorist attacks last year, half the number that occurred in 2020. In one high-profile incident on Oct. 15, 2021, conservative MP Sir David Amess, 69, was stabbed to death by Ali Harbi Ali, 26, a British man of Somali descent who claimed to have wanted to kill British lawmakers who voted in support of Western military action in Syria. In another incident, a bomb was detonated on Nov. 11 in a taxi near Liverpool Women’s Hospital.