Sahel Remains Global Hub for Terrorist Activity, Report Finds. City, Country — The Sahel region of Africa has once again been identified as the “global epicentre of terrorism, “accounting for nearly half of all terrorism-related deaths for the third consecutive year in 2025, according to the Global Terrorism Report released on Thursday.
The report, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace think tank, evaluates the impact of terrorism across 163 countries based on various indicators, including the number of attacks, deaths, injuries, and hostages.
In 2024, more than half of the 7,555 deaths due to terrorism worldwide were recorded in the Sahel, a semi-arid belt stretching from the Atlantic to the Red Sea along the southern rim of the Sahara desert. This trend persisted in 2025, with nearly half of the 5,582 deaths attributed to terrorists occurring in the Sahel, despite a decrease in the total number of victims in the region, the Australia-based think tank. “
The Sahel has suffered a tenfold increase in terrorism fatalities since 2007, “when it accounted for only one percent of global terrorism-related deaths. “.
The epicentre of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East and North Africa into the Sahel region of sub — Saharan Africa, “the report noted.
Burkina Faso, which has been the most affected country in the world for two consecutive years, was overtaken in 2025 by Pakistan. “Deaths from terrorism in Pakistan are now at their highest level since 2013, with the country recording 1,139 terrorism deaths and 1,045 incidents in 2025, “the report. This surge is attributed to a sharp resurgence in terrorist activity, driven in part by the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, as well as rising violence by the Pakistani Taliban movement and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
Meanwhile, Burkina Faso saw the largest decline in deaths in 2025, falling 45 percent from the previous year to 846, the report noted.
This reduction was mostly due to an 84-percent decrease in civilian casualties, rather than an improvement in security.
The Al — Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic acronym JNIM, has been the main jihadist group active in Burkina Faso.
The group has shifted its strategy to target soldiers rather than civilians in its attacks.
Niger, which was listed fifth in 2024, climbed to third place in 2025 due to an increase in terrorism incidents and surpassed Mali and Syria with 703 deaths, more than half of which were civilians. Nigeria rose to fourth place on the index, with 750 people killed in 2025, up 46 percent from the previous year.
This marks the highest death toll since 2020, driven by internal instability as well as ongoing conflict between ISWAP and Boko Haram.
The report attributes most attacks in the Sahel to the Islamic State group and JNIM. It also highlighted the expansion of jihadist groups to West Africa’s coastal countries, particularly Benin, which has shot up to 19th place on the index from 26th. Further details are expected as the situation continues to develop.
