Aqeel: Political turmoil and lack of coordination between countries constitutes fertile ground for carrying out terrorist operations
Sharif Abdel Hamid: A joint Arab force must be formed to combat terrorism in the Arab region
issued Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights (Egypt) A quarterly report on the phenomenon of terrorism in the Arab region, which monitors all terrorist operations and associated activities and interactions within terrorist groups during the period from January to March 2021, and in its tracking of terrorist operations, the report adopted more than one research and investigative approach in the monitoring and analysis processes with the aim of achieving the greatest possible benefit. And to come up with the most accurate results.
The report titled “Remarkable repositioning and escalation: a look at terrorist operations in the Arab region during the first quarter of 2021 ″The terrorist groups recovered in a way that makes them capable of launching more attacks in the Arab region, and this recovery began in the second half of 2020, preceded by a cautious retreat in the first five months of last year due to the Corona virus, which was imposed on terrorist organizations in the Arab region. Re-evaluate its strategy for the operations it is planning, whether at the level of the distribution of terrorist operations according to the regions in which they are located, or at the level of the method of carrying out these operations.
The report revealed an increase in the frequency of terrorist operations during the first three months of 2021, compared to the first quarter of last year, as the report monitored the occurrence of approximately 169 terrorist operations in the Arab region during the first three months of this year, at a time when the operations did not exceed The terrorist attacks that the Arab region witnessed in the first quarter of 2020, there were 43 terrorist operations, and most of these operations took place in countries suffering from armed conflicts, as is the case in Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, or against countries that are party to armed conflicts, as is the case for the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia, which was targeted by the Houthis with 29 terrorist operations from January 4 to March 30, 2021. These operations left about 634 people dead and more than 722 injured, most of them civilians.
The report indicated that Somalia came at the forefront of countries affected by terrorist operations with about 45 terrorist operations, then Syria with nearly 39 terrorist operations, followed by Iraq with 36 terrorist attacks, Saudi Arabia with 29 terrorist attacks, then Yemen with 9 attacks, in addition to Sudan. With up to 4 attacks, Lebanon with 3 attacks, then Libya with two attacks, and Algeria and Tunisia with one terrorist attack against each of them. On the other hand, 12 other Arab countries were not affected by terrorist operations in the first quarter of 2021, and they are; UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Jordan, Djibouti, Mauritania, Comoros, Palestine, Egypt, and lastly the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Syria came at the forefront of countries in terms of the number of deaths resulting from terrorist operations among civilians and the military, with 191 dead, followed by Somalia with 176 dead, then Iraq with 95 dead, Sudan with 89 dead, then Yemen with 26 dead, and Algeria with 5 dead. Tunisia was killed by 4, followed by Libya by two, and Lebanon by one dead, the anti-Hezbollah activist Luqman Salim.
Somalia came at the forefront of the countries in terms of the number of injuries resulting from terrorist attacks among civilians and the military, with 216 injuries, followed by Sudan with 160 injuries, and the State of Iraq came third in terms of the number of injuries, with 153 injuries, then Syria with 149 injuries, and Yemen. With 21 injuries, Lebanon with 12 injuries, then Saudi Arabia with 8 injuries, followed by Algeria with 3 injuries, and Libya with one injury.
At the level of terrorist groups, the terrorist organization ISIS was at the forefront of terrorist organizations that adopted terrorist operations during the first quarter of this year, with 46 terrorist operations, followed by Al-Shabaab in Somalia with about 43 operations, while the Iranian-backed Houthi group carried out nearly 35 terrorist attacks 29 A terrorist operation directed against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and 6 terrorist operations carried out by the Houthis in areas under their control in Yemen or areas that seek to impose control over them, and the victims of these operations, civilians and military alike, were killed.
Ayman Aqil, head of Maat Foundation, said that the increase in terrorist operations during the first three months of 2021, compared to the first quarter of last year, is due to more than one reason. The laxity of the security services, the lack of coordination between them in some countries, and the growing sectarian tendency among groups of a single people, as is the case in Iraq, which constitutes fertile ground and an entry point for terrorist groups to implement their agenda. Aqeel called for the necessity of strengthening intelligence cooperation between Arab countries and international powers in a way that would ensure that proactive steps were taken to limit the occurrence of terrorist attacks. As well as imposing strict international control over the movement of international funding provided to terrorist groups.
For his part, Sherif Abdel-Hamid, Director of the Research and Studies Unit at the Maat Foundation, said that the presence of a number of Arab countries in a state of armed conflict between them and armed groups that have consistently undermined governance in these countries, and have been used to achieve the goals of external parties, and that the chaos that these conflicts create allows terrorism to become active. Without the ability of states to hold it back or confront it in a way that restricts it or contributes to mitigating its effects and repercussions at all levels. Abdel-Hamid called for the formation of a joint Arab force to undertake the tasks of combating terrorism in the Arab countries.
To view the full report via the following link: -
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