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US redefines terrorism: Estimate shows 3,192 terror attacks in 2004

WASHINGTON: The US government on Tuesday dramatically raised its official 2004 estimate of international terror attacks to 3,192 from about 650 after adopting a broader definition of terrorism aimed at presenting a clearer picture of the worldwide phenomenon.

The National Counterterrorism Centre, or NCTC, set up last December to integrate and analyze US intelligence on terrorism, said terror attacks left 6,060 people dead, 16,091 wounded and 6,282 taken hostage worldwide last year.

The Middle East/Persian Gulf region and South Asia accounted for 37 percent and 33 percent of all incidents, respectively.

The NCTC also announced a new analytical database called the Worldwide Incidents Tracking System that will allow public access beginning on Wednesday at the Internet Web site: www.tkb.org/NCTCHome.jsp.

The five-fold increase in the estimate of 2004 terror incidents results from the introduction of a new definition of terrorism that encompasses both international and domestic attacks and includes all injuries and property damages.

In late April, the Bush administration reported that 651 incidents of international terrorism had resulted in 1,907 deaths, 6,704 injuries and 710 kidnappings in 2004. The data was based on a narrower definition that excluded indigenous attacks and included only those injuries that were more than superficial and damages of over $10,000.

New data include all injuries and damages. NCTC interim director John Brennan said his agency decided to broaden its definition of terrorism after concluding that the narrower criteria did not accurately depict the scope of what he called a growing and devastating world problem.

“There has in fact been an undercounting of international incidents prior to this year,” he told a press briefing. “This represents a new statistical baseline for the phenomenon of worldwide terrorism. We want to be able to stand behind the information we put out and say, yes, it has integrity.”

The State Department last year initially released erroneous figures that understated the attacks and casualties in 2003 and used the figures to argue that the Bush administration was prevailing in the war on terrorism. It later said the number of people killed and injured in 2003 was more than double its original count as the number of “significant” terrorist attacks rose to a 20-year high of 175. reuters

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