Terror Deaths Increased 8-Fold Since 2010

Terrorism around the globe has jumped nearly 800 percent in the past five years, according to a new report.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism found that an average of nearly 30,000 people per year have been killed by terrorists since 2010, when terrorism's death toll was 3,284. The authors of the study, which tabulated the numbers through the end of 2015, say that the exponential increase shows two troubling trends: More attacks are happening, and they tend to be deadlier than ever.

The study said that the rise is due, in part, to the fact that Islamist terror groups are operating in more countries than ever, especially in the Middle East and Africa. ISIS, which split from Al Qaeda in early 2014, now has a presence or affiliation in several Middle Eastern countries, Africa and Southeast Asia.

In addition to ISIS, groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al Shabaab in Somalia have been on the rise in the last few years.

And terror groups, particularly those in the Middle East, have new access to deadlier weapons, which they have used to destabilize governments and terrorize citizens, the report said.

The U.S. has had success fighting individual terror groups, including Al Qaeda, but when one is suppressed, others rise, the report said. What is needed is a comprehensive approach targeting the ideology, it said.

The analysis shows that the growth in terror-related murder is not only attributable to the emergence of ISIS, but also to a wider theater of operations for terror groups overall. While the Islamic State is responsible for at least 10,780 deaths since 2013, the rise of other extremist groups like Boko Haram and Al Shabbab in Africa has accounted for tens of thousands of terror deaths in the past five years, according to the report.

In addition, IPT expects the wave of terror to continue to grow in 2016 and beyond. Analysts see continued violence in the trouble spots throughout Africa and the Middle East, with conflict spilling over into Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

It also predicts that Asia will see more terror attacks as countries like Thailand, The Philippines and India are perceived as soft targets, and that due to the migrant crisis, violence in Europe will increase over the next two years as extremists continue to exploit the immigration system throughout the EU.