2012 Summary of Islamic Terror Attacks

 

Since the 9/11 attack on New York and Washington, D.C., The Religion of Peace website has maintained a daily log of Islamic terror attacks, and many Internet blogs post the daily scorecard. It is also important to reflect on the trends over time with annual summaries, which this author has been doing for several years. While Islamic terrorism continues unabated in Afghanistan and Iraq, the new focus seems to be North Africa.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently acknowledged before Congressional hearings, “We now face a spreading jihadist threat. We have to recognize this is a global movement.” The perpetrators are no longer just the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which claimed credit for only 194 and 144 attacks respectively of the total 2,546 attacks in 2012.  And the principal victims were not the “Great Satan” (U.S.A.) or Israel, but rather mostly Muslims themselves.  Shiites were identified as the targets of 338 attacks, or over three times the number identified as Christian targets. Terrorism has become the tactic of choice in Syria, both by the government and by the rebels. The death and injury tolls inflicted by the rebels alone rival those in Afghanistan for about one-fourth the number of attacks. Sadly, in 2012 the toll of Islamic terror attacks since 9/11/01 surpassed 20,000 on The Religion of Peace (TROP) website (www.thereligionofpeace.com). 

 

A note about the data:  While the editors of the TROP website would be the first to admit there may be gaps in the data, they have been as diligent as humanly possible to provide an accurate accounting from newspaper articles, tips, and other information sources. If anything, the data grossly understate the true extent of Islamic terrorism.  (See “About the List of Terrorist Attacks” on their website sidebar.) 

 

Terrorism by Year:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED	ATTACKS EXCLUDING IRAQ/AFGH	KILLED EXCLUDING IRAQ/AFGH	INJURED EXCLUDING IRAQ/AFGH
2002	549	2,723	6,039	542	2,686	5,877
2003	835	3,372	6,905	627	2,554	5,358
2004	994	7,210	14,632	578	4,265	8,348
2005	1,539	7,662	12,850	914	2,648	5,709
2006	2,286	15,251	19,540	1,105	3,733	6,108
2007	2,649	20,172	16,013	1,387	4,758	7,422
2008	2,204	10,779	18,213	1,284	5,061	8,905
2009	1,932	9,157	18,591	1,263	4,714	9,223
2010	1,867	9,008	17,032	1,000	4,796	8,147
2011	1,993	8,948	16,762	1,267	5,058	9,156
2012	2,546	11,306	20,210	1,736	7,335	11,367

 

Terror in the U.S.:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	12	16	1
2003	2	2	-
2004	3	2	10
2005	-	-	-
2006	4	6	20
2007	2	5	5
2008	2	3	0
2009	5	17	33
2010	1	5	2
2011	1	1	-
2012	1	-	3

 

While several terror attacks were thwarted by authorities 2012, a Muslim father shot his daughter, her boyfriend, and her mother for letting her date a non-Muslim.  Shamefully, the trial for U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, the Army doctor who shouted “Allah Akbar” and opened fire on fellow soldiers killing 13 and injuring 31 in 2009, has still not begun.  He is still receiving a $6,000 per month salary at taxpayers’ expense. This terror attack by a self-proclaimed “Soldier of Allah” is now being described by the government as a case of “workplace violence.”

 

Afghanistan:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	6	36	162
2003	58	248	192
2004	80	342	329
2005	162	530	356
2006	229	859	1,180
2007	289	1,293	1,491
2008	271	1,265	1,479
2009	168	1,312	1,644
2010	302	1,350	1,695
2011	264	1,554	2,326
2012	303	1,358	2,173

 

As the U.S. Coalition is rushing to leave Afghanistan by 2014, the grim reality is that the Afghan police and military forces are not up to the task of securing the country.  Many of the Afghan recruits cannot read or write, limiting their ability to absorb the technical knowledge to carry out 21^st Century counter-terrorism activities. Worse yet, the rush to recruit soldiers and officers has allowed terrorists to infiltrate the programs, resulting in numerous Green-on-Blue murders of Coalition trainers.  The U.S. military operation there is so compromised that more U.S. soldiers are dying of suicide than combat injuries.

 

China:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2007	-	-	-
2008	7	48	46
2009	1	137	800
2010	1	7	14
2011	4	21	24
2012	2	13	5

 

There are between 26 million and 40 million Muslims in China, comprising 2% to 3% of the total population. In recent years they have become more militant in asserting their Islamic prerogatives.  The Chinese government crack-down has been severe.  Lacking fire-arms and explosives, the terrorists are attacking their victims with knives.

 

Egypt:

 

2009	6	6	45
2010	10	32	194
2011	28	110	949
2012	29	53	346

 

Egypt’s “Arab Spring” began in January, 2011, with demonstrations that ultimately ended the 30 year rule of Hosni Mubarak.  However, terrorism was rarely part of the tactics of the reformists.  All but 2 of the 2011 terror attacks were directed at the Christians who comprise about 10 percent of the population. They are leaving the country as fast as they can. In 2012, the acts of terror were a mix of two-thirds violent Sharia Law enforcement and one-third anti-Christian attacks.

 

India:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	295	905	1,353
2003	301	692	1,633
2004	120	367	1,142
2005	222	498	1,241
2006	295	704	2,024
2007	149	268	483
2008	87	547	1,445
2009	61	99	76
2010	67	128	184
2011	50	98	253
2012	40	44	68

 

The low ratio of deaths to attacks indicates that most of the terror attacks in 2012 were against individuals.  Twenty-three of the injured were part of car-bomb attack on a road construction crew.  One quarter of the targets were Hindus.  India is 81% Hindu, 13% Muslim, 2% Christian, and 2% Sikh. 

           

Indonesia:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	14	247	423
2003	13	48	142
2004	23	80	260
2005	11	69	246
2006	6	8	2
2007	2	1	13
2008	3	3	277
2009	1	9	50
2010	5	8	170
2011	14	20	154
2012	10	16	33

 

 

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any county in the world. Whereas Christians were the victims of two-thirds of the attacks and casualties in 2011, terror was used primarily by dominant Sunnis against “heritics,” Ahmadis, and security personnel in 2012. Indonesia is 88% Muslim, 8% Christian, and 2% Hindu.   

 

Iraq:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	1	1	-
2003	150	568	1,365
2004	336	2,603	5,955
2005	463	4,484	6,785
2006	952	10,659	12,252
2007	973	14,121	7,100
2008	649	4,453	7,829
2009	501	3,131	7,724
2010	565	2,862	8,147
2011	462	2,336	5,280
2012	507	2,613	6,670

 

U.S. combat operations in Iraq ended on August 31, 2011, and all troops had left Iraq by the end of the year, but terrorism increased 2012.  Many of the terror attacks were by minority Sunnis against the majority Shiite civilian population.  These attacks targeted large numbers of Shiites participating in pilgrimages, funerals, and worship.  In six of the attacks, the average deaths were 40 and the average injuries were 120 each. Thanks to democracy, the Sunnis have lost much of their political influence; thanks to terrorism there is still no peace in Iraq.

 

 Israel:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	78	373	1,799
2003	62	202	811
2004	43	118	417
2005	30	58	283
2006	38	89	724
2007	7	9	75
2008	16	28	151
2009	9	8	5
2010	7	10	7
2011	14	20	120
2012	17	11	77

 

Israel’s uncompromising stand against Islamic terrorism, including its formidable containment wall, has drawn complaints, but there is no denying its effectiveness in reducing attacks on the country’s civilians.  Suicide bombing has also been disrupted by security operations.  About half of the deaths and injuries in 2012 were due to unguided missile attacks.  Israel has now deployed an Iron Dome missile defense system which is said to be 80% to 90% effective at stopping those rockets.  Iron Dome, however, was not designed as a defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles, so that may be the next phase of defending Israel.

 

Libya:

 

2009	-	-	-
2010	-	-	-
2011	1	3	-
2012	9	22	32

 

Libya’s “Brother Leader” Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown (and killed) in October, 2011.  The new government has yet to reign in the over 200 independent (and sometimes rival) militias which control various parts of the country. The most notable incident in 2012 was the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi by Ansar al-Sharia members which resulted in the deaths of the American Ambassador Christopher Stephens and three service personnel, in addition to seventeen people injured.

 

 Mali:

 

2009	3	26	3
2010	2	2	0
2011	2	1	7
2012	9	26	46

 

Mali has had a constitutional democracy since 1991, but a military coup overthrew the government in March, 2012.  The road back to democracy has been thwarted by fundamentalists enforcing Sharia and persecuting Christians.  In June, “The Movement of Oneness and Jihad” assaulted a small town killing 17 defenders and injuring another 41. Now the French government, with logistical support from the U.S., is trying to restore order.

 

Nigeria:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	8	195	620
2003	47	232	448
2004	17	194	60
2005	7	59	31
2006	9	101	401
2007	8	36	66
2008	4	12	20
2009	6	24	62
2010	37	815	866
2011	165	1182	1250
2012	276	1657	1689

 

For two years, some of the largest numerical increases in terrorism have occurred in Nigeria, where Muslims are targeting Christians.  Of the 276 attacks, 103 were attributed to the radical Islamist group Boko Haram (Western Education Forbidden).   These are mass murders. In January in Kano, Boko Haram launched a coordinated bombing and shooting attack that left 256 Christians dead and another 200 injured. Easter was marked by a suicide car bombing outside a church killing 41 and injuring another 33. In July, Muslims attacked twelve Christian villages, killing 80 (including 50 who had taken refuge in a church) and injuring another 300. Christian President Goodluck Jonathan has apparently lost control of his deeply divided nation. Nigeria is 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, and 10% “indigenous beliefs.” The northern part of Nigeria is predominantly Muslim, and some provinces claim to apply Sharia Law.  In a recent CNN interview, Jonathan claimed, “Almost 50 per cent of Boko Haram adherents are trained in Northern Mali. Most of the weapons they use come from Libya to Mali and then to Nigeria.”  For this reason, Nigeria is now involved in the anti-terrorism efforts in Mali.

 

Pakistan:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	61	152	388
2003	39	155	207
2004	64	325	800
2005	83	274	375
2006	189	619	729
2007	302	1,638	2,876
2008	448	2,133	3,499
2009	461	2,355	4,645
2010	380	2,012	3,486
2011	453	1,837	2,913
2012	637	1,905	2,928

 

As a supposed ally of the U.S. in the fight against terrorism, Pakistan shown no willingness or ability to curb Islamic terror in their own country. Most of the terrorism in 2012 was Sunni violence against minority Shiites. The deadliest single attack was in February, when a Sunni suicide bomber targeted a Shia mosque, killing 43 and injuring another 41. Since Pakistan is 97% Muslim, the attacks there are virtually all Muslim-on-Muslim attacks, both sectarian and anti-government. The cancer of terrorism has metastasized in Pakistan, as evidenced by the fourteen different organizations claiming responsibility for the violence: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Taliban (“students of Islam”), Jundullah, Tehreek-e-Taliban, Wahhabi, Shahid, Fedayeen, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Islam, Qazi Aisar, Sipah-e-Mohammad, Ansar al-Islam, Tauheed-e-Islam, and Abdullah Azzam Brigade.

 

Palestinian Authority (Gaza and West Bank):

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	-	-	-
2003	1	1	-
2004	2	5	6
2005	2	21	167
2006	14	19	27
2007	43	146	477
2008	9	13	37
2009	15	55	125
2010	1	1	0
2011	4	4	5
2012	8	12	35

 

In November, Palestinians succeeded in getting ‘de facto’ recognition via the United Nations as a “non-member observer” and they began calling themselves the “State of Palestine,” despite having no recognized border and no national government. Most of the murders in 2012 were due to enforcement of Sharia Law. In January, thirty Shiites were brutally beaten by Hamas thugs who broke into their worship service.

 

Russian Federation:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	4	256	449
2003	56	434	774
2004	83	978	1251
2005	82	219	245
2006	47	106	110
2007	59	157	197
2008	59	115	135
2009	64	189	367
2010	78	217	648
2011	74	173	330
2012	61	152	209

 

The data above include Russia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia. Russia’s war on terrorism has made little progress since 2004.  The most horrific attack in 2012 occurred in February when an Islamic militia attacked and killed thirteen police officers in Dagestan, killing 13 and injuring another 17.

 

Saudi Arabia:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	1	1	-
2003	7	61	321
2004	17	64	277
2005	4	9	-
2006	3	6	13
2007	5	9	4
2008	1	1	0
2009	4	8	14
2010	1	1	3
2011	1	4	9
2012	8	10	17

 

Most of the carnage in 2012 was the result of clashes between Sunnis and minority Shiites.

 

Somalia:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	-	-	-
2003	3	4	-
2004	2	2	1
2005	7	26	53
2006	29	544	811
2007	201	618	939
2008	193	920	1237
2009	135	804	1601
2010	105	655	1420
2011	81	401	637
2012	94	341	480

 

Somalia remains the world’s poster child for a failed state.  The country has not had a functioning government for 20 years.  The only good news there is that neighboring countries, members of the African Union, are pushing the al-Shabab militants out of urban areas and disrupting the terrorism in the region, but the effort is far from over.

 

Sudan/South Sudan/Chad:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2002	1	24	23
2003	6	261	35
2004	20	1241	908
2005	11	325	80
2006	26	720	210
2007	16	564	157
2008	18	322	253
2009	5	106	134
2010	3	81	95
2011	13	67	110
2012	13	56	65

 

In January, 2011, the people in Southern Sudan voted on a UN mandated referendum to secede from the Sudan.  Most of the terror incidents in 2012 have been attacks by the Islamic Republic of Sudan militias against Christian civilians and refugees in South Sudan.

 

Syria:

 

2009	-	-	-
2010	-	-	-
2011	1	45	166
2012	89	1,217	2,290

 

A demonstration in March, 2011, protesting the al-Assad government’s Emergency Law which allows arrests without charge, spread into a nation-wide civil war which has resulted in over 60,000 deaths mostly caused by government ground, aerial, and artillery attacks on civilians. The population density of Syria is 32 times that of Libya, the scene of the last civil war in the region. Meanwhile, the terror attacks have exploded to Afghanistan-type figures.  In May and June, two Shiite attacks against Sunni villages resulted in almost 200 deaths. Christians, too, have been targets of the terror attacks. Other horrific attacks include three suicide bomb attacks on government buildings in Damascus and Aleppo resulting in 110 dead and 747 injured. The Al-Nursra Front is group most often cited as responsible for terror attacks in Syria. Syria is 74% Muslim, 16% Christian, and 10% Jewish. 

 

Thailand:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2007	422	611	625
2008	104	317	405
2009	133	358	375
2010	163	242	269
2011	184	298	499
2012	175	251	821

 

Islamic terror attacks remain at a high level in Thailand, where peaceful Buddhists are easy targets. Most of the attacks involve just a few victims. Increasingly, however, the terrorists are targeting train stations, hotels, and shopping centers. Thailand is 94% Buddhist, 5% Muslim and 1% Christian.

 

Yemen:

 

	ATTACKS	KILLED	INJURED
2007	7	43	81
2008	14	14	132
2009	14	73	79
2010	38	206	131
2011	64	485	587
2012	108	1154	917

 

Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned his 33 year rule in February, 2012, turning the government over to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.  This has not stopped the terror attacks, principally by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP is considered by the U.S. to be one of the most active and dangerous wings of the global network founded by Osama bin Laden. In just two AQAP surprise attacks on Yemeni soldiers, 297 were killed and 402 injured. U.S. has assisted the Yemeni government through drone attacks to suppress AQAP, including the targeted killing of American-born cleric and terrorist, Anwar al-Awlaki, in September, 2011.  

 

CONCLUSIONS FOR 2012:

 

1.     Islamic terrorism has metastasized into a world-wide problem. While only a few countries are identified in this report, the TROP list of terrorist incidents in 2012 includes 56 countries – both Muslim and non-Muslim.  Three new countries have been added to the score-card above – Libya, and Mali, and Syria.  

 

2.     A careful reading of the TROP data indicates that the modal modes of terror are 1) attacks on defenseless individuals or small groups, and 2) horrific multiple bombings of crowds in markets, mosques, or other public gatherings.    Muslims continue to be the principal victims of Islamic terrorism, except for Nigeria, Indonesia, and Thailand, where Christians and Buddhists are being killed in large numbers.

 

3.     Terrorism has generally failed to accomplish any political or social objectives.  The “Arab Spring” overthrows of the long-standing governments in Egypt and Yemen were accomplished for the most part through peaceful demonstrations.  The terrorism was used only later to settle scores and to enforce Sharia Law.

 

4.     The presence or absence of U.S. military forces did not seem to have a significant impact on Islamic terrorism in 2012.

 

5.     Security measures in the U.S. and Israel have been quite effective, but new tactics and technology must be developed to keep ahead of the ever-changing Islamist threat.

 

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