Terrorism in Afghanistan
The risk of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan over the past years can be classified as extremely high. Worldwide this is one of the most dangerous countries with the most and devastating attacks. Over the past 5 years a total number of 7025 terrorist incidents has been recorded, in which 22334 people have been killed and 25319 injured. Among them were 626 suicide acts.In 722 incedents a total of 4677 people have been kidnapped or taken as hostage, though a ransom was rarely (40 times) extorted.
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Most frequent attack targets in Afghanistan
(2013 to 2017)| Target | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police | 2789 | 11,184 | 10,055 | 1,188 |
| Private citizens | 2331 | 8,613 | 12,605 | 2,535 |
| Government | 940 | 2,612 | 4,782 | 380 |
| Military | 422 | 2,578 | 2,742 | 112 |
| Business | 190 | 505 | 875 | 216 |
| Religious institutions | 161 | 473 | 771 | 31 |
| Educational institution | 160 | 140 | 1,282 | 313 |
| Non-state militias | 97 | 478 | 314 | 68 |
| Transportation | 81 | 201 | 278 | 234 |
| NGO | 59 | 97 | 47 | 262 |
Most affected regions
(2013 to 2017)| Region | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helmand | 615 | 2,586 | 1,890 | 192 |
| Nangarhar | 603 | 1,579 | 1,879 | 407 |
| Kandahar | 464 | 1,595 | 1,252 | 120 |
| Ghazni | 446 | 1,737 | 1,673 | 234 |
| Kabul | 444 | 1,612 | 3,996 | 379 |
| Faryab | 374 | 1,035 | 1,124 | 368 |
| Herat | 363 | 659 | 1,134 | 251 |
| Kunduz | 306 | 1,372 | 1,309 | 279 |
| Uruzgan | 304 | 1,085 | 656 | 237 |
| Farah | 277 | 971 | 788 | 170 |
| Kunar | 236 | 499 | 695 | 43 |
| Baghlan | 227 | 517 | 702 | 65 |
| Jawzjan | 213 | 423 | 444 | 262 |
| Zabul | 210 | 517 | 509 | 105 |
| Logar | 205 | 505 | 492 | 115 |
| Paktika | 154 | 775 | 660 | 32 |
| Wardak | 154 | 416 | 546 | 108 |
| Laghman | 144 | 331 | 516 | 10 |
| Khost | 135 | 444 | 549 | 2 |
| Paktia | 130 | 552 | 736 | 102 |
Terrorist organisations in Afghanistan
| Organisation | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taliban | 4209 | 17,587 | 17,164 | 3,967 |
| Islamic State | 209 | 1,324 | 1,926 | 376 |
| Haqqani Network | 18 | 49 | 82 | 0 |
| Hizb-I-Islami | 7 | 31 | 47 | 18 |
| Mahaz Fedai Tahrik Islami Afghanistan | 3 | 2 | 24 | 0 |
| Lashkar-e-Jhangvi | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Muslim extremists | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jundallah | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Haji Fateh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
All information sourced from the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" (START) and its Global Terrorism Database. An act of terrorism is concidered every incident which is aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal, but not for pure profit motives. In addition these incidents must not be legitimized by warfare activities, listet in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.