Global Terrorism Index 2025

​Key Findings (Part 4)

Islamic State and Affiliates
Islamic State operates as a decentralised network of affiliates, encompassing nine jihadist groups and affiliated entities. Each group acts independently. 

In 2024, these affiliates were responsible for attacks across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe, highlighting the group's continued transnational reach and operational capacity. 

Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were the most affected by IS activity in 2024, experiencing the highest number of fatalities. Syria alone accounted for 369 of the 559 IS attacks. 

Since 2020, foreign influence in Syria has shifted, with the roles of Russia, China, and Iran diminishing and Türkiye rising as a key player. 

Instability following the fall of the government of the Assad regime could provide fertile ground for IS to regroup and rearm, increasing the risk of resurgence. 

While ISWA’s activity has declined, it remains a significant regional threat, underscored by the recent escalation in violence with Boko Haram, which resulted in heavy casualties and substantial resource losses. 

ISK has evolved into one of the most active jihadist groups globally, expanding its operations beyond Afghanistan into Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Central Asia. It carries out more deadly attacks outside of Afghanistan than within, highlighting its growing transnational threat. 

ISK has extensive multilingual skills and a sophisticated online presence in Pashto, Dari, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Uzbek, Tajik, English and, more recently, Russian and Turkish, mainly targeting youth. 

ISK's ability to operate and expand in Afghanistan and beyond remains an international concern, prompting heightened security and counterterrorism efforts by the EU, Russia and Central Asian states. 

In addition to the attacks that occurred, in 2024, a total of 24 publicised plots linked to IS or affiliated groups were foiled, including a high-profile plot targeting Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. In view of the rarity of intelligence services disclosing such incidents, it may be that many more such plots were foiled last year. 

​Global Terrorism Index 2025. Institute for Economics & Peace. Sydney, Australia.