Islamic State's spread beyond Syria, Iraq remains concern for US
The State Department's annual report on terrorism said Islamic State branches outside of Iraq and Syria caused more fatalities in 2020 than any previous year.
The number of terrorist attacks increased worldwide in 2020 in part due to the spread of Islamic State (IS) branches and al-Qaeda affiliates, the US State Department said in a report released Thursday.
The Country Reports on Terrorism provided annually to Congress said the number of terrorist attacks and resulting fatalities increased by more than 10% last year compared to 2019.
“The terrorism threat we face has become more geographically diffuse,” John Godfrey, acting coordinator for counterterrorism and special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told reporters on a call Thursday.
Godfrey described IS, which the report said maintains a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria, as a “determined and dangerous enemy” despite its territorial defeat.
