As the world witnessed in utter disbelief the heinous atrocities committed by ISIS, nations joined forces and united efforts to counter the monstrous scourge and eradicate it indefinitely, and Egypt in particular has responded to terrorism with an iron fist. Like most nations, Egypt had its fair share of agony, strife, and bloodshed at the hands of terrorism. With every attack, however, Egyptian security forces grew in determination, vigilance, and resolve to oust the extremist phenomenon and preserve the nation’s security and stability. Consequently, Egyptian authorities devised a tight security plan which entailed carrying out successful preemptive operations that foiled several terrorist attacks.
Egypt has departed the list of top 10 countries affected by terrorism this year in the 2019 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) which measures the impact of terrorism and is devised by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). Egypt had the third largest total fall in deaths and one of the largest percentage decreases, with deaths from terrorism falling 90 percent in a single year. This fall in deaths came as the result of reduced activity from the Islamic State’s Sinai Province group, following extensive military operations by the Egyptian government.
Egypt saw the number of terror attacks fall from 169 to 45, as a result of increased counter-terrorism activities directed at the Sinai Province group, the report added. The Middle East and North Africa region also recorded a substantial advancement last year with 17 countries improving. Fatalities in the MENA accounted for 42 percent of global total deaths from terrorism since 2002. However, since the defeat of ISIS, the region’s share of the global total has dropped substantially, and in 2018 it accounted for only 15 percent of total deaths.
