July 2001 Vol. 84, No. 7

Terror attacks are on the rise again--but their focus is shifting.

Patterns of Global Terrorism

In the latest version of its annually updated survey, "Patterns of Global Terrorism," the State Department reports that the worldwide toll for acts of international terror in Year 2000 was 405 killed and 791 wounded. These figures, taken together, marked a significant increase over the 233 dead and 706 wounded in 1999. In terms of the number of attacks, the year just past produced the second straight year-over-year increase, a fact the report attributed mainly to an upsurge in attacks against an oil pipeline in Colombia. However, terrorism, at least in numerical terms, is well down from peak levels in the mid-1980s. Asia was the continent with the largest number of killings and woundings. The countries with the most killings were Colombia, a nation in the throes of a major battle with leftist guerrillas and right wing paramilitary groups with holdings in coca-growing areas, and India, where the Kashmir conflict has led to large-scale massacres. The number of US deaths during the year rose from five in 1999 to 19, all but two of them as a result of the attack on the US destroyer Cole in Aden harbor in Yemen in October. Seventeen US sailors died in that blast. The report was released April 30 by the State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. It concluded, "The year 2000 showed that terrorism continues to pose a clear and present danger to the international community."

The Unholy Seven (At Least) of State Terror Though state-sponsored terrorism has declined during recent years, Washington keeps seven nations on the watch list of those who provide aid, comfort, and support to the killers. They are: Iran. Remains the most active state sponsor of terrorism. Provided increasing support to numerous terror groups, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which seek to undermine the Middle East peace negotiations through the use of terrorism. It encourages Hezbollah and Palestinian groups to coordinate their planning and to escalate their activities against Israel. Iraq. Continued to provide safe haven and support to a variety of Palestinian rejectionist groups, as well as bases, weapons, and protection to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, an Iranian terrorist group fighting against Tehran. Regime has not attempted an anti­Western attack since its failed plot to assassinate former President Bush in 1993 in Kuwait. Syria. Still provides safe haven and support to several terrorist groups. The Syrian government allowed Hamas to open a new main office in Damascus in March, although the arrangement may be temporary while Hamas continues to seek permission to re-establish its headquarters in Jordan. Syria granted several terrorist groups basing privileges or refuge in areas of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Libya. Attempting to change its international image following its surrender in 1999 of two Libyan suspects for trial in the Pan Am 103 bombing. However, it still maintains contacts with groups that use violence to oppose Middle East peace, including the Palestine Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine­General Command. Cuba. Offers safe haven to several notorious terrorists and US fugitives and maintained ties to state sponsors of terror and Latin American insurgents. Colombia's two largest terror organizations, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, maintained a permanent presence on the island. North Korea. Harbored several hijackers of a Japan Airlines flight to North Korea in the 1970s and maintained links to other terrorist groups. Some evidence also suggests Pyongyang may have sold weapons directly or indirectly to terrorist groups, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines. Sudan. Provider of safe haven for members of al-Qaida, Lebanese Hezbollah, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the PIJ, and Hamas. Khartoum has not handed over to authorities three Egyptian Gama'a fugitives linked to the assassination attempt in 1995 against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia. Afghanistan is not on the US list, but only because Washington doesn't recognize it as a state or the Taliban as a government. Even so, Afghanistan is what the State Department calls "a primary hub" of terrorists as well as a safe haven for Osama bin Laden, a notorious anti­Western operator. The US also hints at possible future inclusion of Pakistan and Lebanon.