MEASURING AND UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF TERRORISM

Zamfara in the Northern Belt had 229 deaths, which is
19 per cent of the total.
Overwhelmingly, Fulani militants target private citizens
accounting for 92 per cent of attacks and 81 per cent of
deaths. These attacks have mainly been through armed
assaults, which kill, on average, 11 people per attack.
The largest attack committed by Fulani militants was in
April 2014 when assailants opened fire on community
leaders and residents that were meeting in Galadima
village in Zamfara state, killing at least 200 people.
In addition to terrorist attacks, in 2014 Fulani militants
were also engaged in non-state armed conflicts with
groups from three different ethnic groups that resulted
in 712 deaths. These conflicts were with groups from
Eggon, Jukun and Tiv communities which are largely
farming communities. Tensions between the Fulani and
the other ethnic groups are over the use of land and
there may also be religious elements to conflicts. Some
communities, particularly among the Tiv, may also be
largely Christian, adding a religious dimension to
conflict with predominantly-Muslim Fulani groups.
AL-SHABAAB
Three quarters of deaths and 84 per cent of attacks are
in Somalia, with most of the remaining 25 per cent of
deaths and 16 per cent of attacks occurring in Kenya.
There was also one incident in Djibouti, which killed
five, and one incident in Ethiopia which had no
casualties. The group has also called for attacks in
shopping malls in Canada, the United Kingdom and the
United States, including in February 2015. Although
al-Shabaab has attracted members from the United
Kingdom and the United States, they have not
conducted attacks in countries outside of East Africa.
Private citizens are the target of 36 per cent of attacks,
with an average of 2.5 deaths per attack. The military is
also a major target of al-Shabaab, accounting for 237
deaths over 55 attacks. The biggest attack by al-
Shabaab was against the paramilitary group
Raskamboni Movement and the military forces of
Jubaland which killed 91 people. Al-Shabaab also had
70 separate kidnapping or hostage attacks which
resulted in 238 deaths. Most of the kidnappings were
of private citizens such as in February 2014 when
several elders in Jowhar town were abducted because
of their vocal opposition of al-Shabaab's activity in the
region. The group has also targeted others for
kidnappings such as Radio Andalus journalist Abdi
Samad and a World Health Organisation doctor,
Mohiyadin Taruri.
INCIDENTS 496
DEATHS 1,021
INJURIES 850
LOCATION OF ATTACKS
DJIBOUTI,
ETHIOPIA, KENYA
& SOMALIA
Al-Shabaab, also known as Harakat al-Shabab al-
Mujahideen, is an al-Qa’ida affiliate based in Somalia
that is seeking to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
The group was in control of cities throughout Somalia,
including large areas of the capital Mogadishu.
However, due to a military campaign by the African
Union, al-Shabaab no longer has the territorial reach it
once had. Nevertheless, 2014 was the deadliest year
for the group with the number of deaths from
terrorism doubling to 1,021 and the number of attacks
increasing by one and a half times to nearly 500.
GLOBAL TERRORISM INDEX 2015 | Trends
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