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The Global Terrorism Report has revealed that the Sahel region of Africa has accounted for nearly half of all terrorism-related deaths for the third consecutive year in 2025.
The report noted that the Sahel region has become the “epicentre of terrorism” of the world.
“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 report stated.
“The epicentre of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East and North Africa, into the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa.”
It defined terrorism as “the systematic threat or use of violence, by non-state actors, whether for or in opposition to established authority”.
The Sahel is a semi-arid belt stretching along the Sahara Desert’s southern rim from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.
The index, which was compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace think tank, ranked 163 countries for 13 years according to the impact of “terrorism” based on indicators such as the number of attacks, deaths, injuries and hostages.
According to the report, more than half of the 7,555 deaths due to “terrorism” worldwide were recorded in the Sahel in 2024.
The trend continued in 2025, with nearly half of the 5,582 deaths attributed to “terrorists” occurring in the Sahel, although the total number of victims in the region fell.
It also revealed that Burkina Faso was the most affected country in the world for two consecutive years but was overtaken in 2025 by Pakistan.
The number of terrorism-related deaths in Burkina Faso declined in 2025, representing a 45% decrease from the previous year.
“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 said.
“This follows a sharp resurgence in terrorist activity driven in part by the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.”
An Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic acronym JNIM, has shifted its strategy to target soldiers rather than civilians in its attacks. This change in strategy led to an 84% reduction in civilian casualties rather than an improvement in security.
The report ranked Niger, which was fifth on the list in 2024, in third place in 2025. It further noted that the number of terrorism incidents in Niger surpassed those of Mali and Syria.
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 said.
According to the report, the Islamic State group and JNIM are responsible for the increasing terrorism incidents in the Sahel region.
The groups have expanded to West Africa’s coastal countries, particularly Benin, which has shot up to 19th place on the index from 26th.
