However, the state department said figures showed the terror threat “continued to evolve rapidly in 2015, becoming increasingly decentralised and diffuse”.
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The number of terror attacks and consequent deaths has declined for the first time since 2012, according to a new US State Department report.
“The global community made important progress in degrading terrorist safe havens – in particular, a sizeable reduction in the amount of territory held by the Islamic State [of Iraq and Greater Syria], or ISIL, in Iraq and Syria, as well as the finances and foreign terrorist fighters available to it”, acting coordinator for counterterrorism Justin Siberell told a briefing in Washington Thursday.
It attributed the 13% drop from 2014 to fewer attacks in Iraq, Pakistan and Nigeria, three of the five countries worst affected by terrorism.
The group has begun to lose ground to US-backed forces in its self-declared “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, and it has begun to struggle to find funds, the report concludes.
74% of all deaths due to terrorism took place in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan or Syria.
It also pointed out that terrorist attacks and corresponding deaths increased in several countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Syria and Turkey in 2015. It said that those attacks may have been part of “an effort to assert a narrative of victory in the face of steady losses of territory in Iraq and Syria”.
In its annual survey of worldwide terrorism released Thursday, the State Department also said Iran remained the leading state sponsor of terrorism, despite reaching its nuclear deal with world powers.
The UN report also notes a marked increase in the number of foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq with the intent and capability to conduct attacks in their home countries.
The State Department recently issued a travel alert to US citizens considering traveling to Europe, warning about the risk of potential terrorist attacks throughout the continent ahead of the busy summer travel season. In addition, more than 12,100 people were kidnapped or taken hostage, according to the State Department.
– Of the 28,328 people killed previous year in terrorist attacks 6,924 (24%) were those who carried out the attacks.
It said Islamic State-aligned groups had emerged in other parts of the Middle East, south and southeast Asia and West Africa, although the relationship between the groups and Islamic State leadership was “symbolic in most cases”.
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Meanwhile, the IS group’s predecessor as public enemy number one, Al-Qaeda, is seeking to mount a comeback and continues to inspire or order attacks, particularly in Yemen and East Africa.
