Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has been named as one of the top 10 most globally active non-state armed groups in 2013.
This was revealed in the IHS Jane’s 2013 Global Terrorism and Insurgency Attack Index from IHS Inc, a leading global source of critical information and insight.
The ICS, widely blamed for post- and pre-polls violence across the country, was placed in the third position while Barisan Revolusi Nasional, Thailand and Taliban were seen in the first and second position respectively.
Seven other active non-state armed groups are Communist Party of India (Maoist), Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabaab), FARC of Colombia, New People’s Army of Philippines, Jabhat al-Nusra of Syria and Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
The US-based IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre says the number of attacks by non-state armed groups around the world has rapidly increased in just five years.
In 2013, 207 attacks were claimed by or attributed to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). This is a 160 percent increase from the 79 recorded in open sources in 2012.
Despite this increase, it does not fully reflect AQI’s predominant role in driving the 52 percent increase in the recorded number of attacks in Iraq and the 148 percent increase in non-militant fatalities.
In 2012, there were 2,297 attacks in Iraq. At the end of 2013, that figure stands at 3,499.”
Source: UNBConnect
