The death toll from terrorist attacks worldwide rose by 80% to amount to 32,658 in 2014, at the time where 11 countries had suffered from more than 500 deceased, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index issued Tuesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Al-Bawaba News reported. The economic cost of terrorism reached $52.9 billion, according to IEP's estimation. Terrorism is also highly concentrated in five countries which are Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria forming 78% of the casualties with nearly 10 thousand killed in Iraq, while in Nigeria death toll has accounted for more than 7,500 with terrorists linked to ISIS and Boko Haram forming 51% of the global deaths. Steve Killelea, founder of IEP, said that the large increase in the terrorist activity means that it became spread worldwide. "10 of the 11 most affected states by terrorism are also among those that have the highest rates of refugees and internally displaced persons, this highlights the strong link between the current refugee crisis, terrorism and conflict," Killelea said.
