**Canberra, Australia** – While the world witnessed a significant reduction in terrorism-related fatalities in 2025, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stand as stark exceptions, experiencing a troubling surge in violence attributed to extremist and criminal factions. Data released by the Australian thinktank, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), in its latest Global Terrorism Index, reveals a starkly divergent picture, with these two African nations grappling with escalating threats that challenge broader global progress against terrorism.
The report highlights that Nigeria bore the brunt of this localized intensification, recording a substantial 46% increase in terrorism-related deaths. This alarming rise, pushing the grim tally from 513 fatalities in 2024 to 750 in 2025, propelled Nigeria to the fourth position among countries most impacted by terrorism globally. This deterioration is not attributable to a single cause but rather a complex interplay of factors. Long-standing insurgencies from groups like Boko Haram and its affiliates continue to sow chaos, compounded by the activities of predatory criminal elements often referred to as "bandits," and the emergence of new threats such as the Lakurawa group. The violence has manifested in harrowing incidents, including a massacre in Kwara state that claimed 162 lives in February 2025, and recent assaults on military installations in Borno state, where at least 80 personnel, including senior officers, perished. The capital city of Maiduguri has also been a target, with multiple suicide bombings shortly before the report's release leaving over 23 dead and more than 100 injured.
Similarly, the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing an intensified security crisis, with terrorism-related deaths escalating by nearly 28% in the same period, rising from 365 to 467. The IS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has been identified as the primary driver of this surge, pushing the DRC to its worst-ever ranking on the Global Terrorism Index, placing it eighth globally. The instability in these regions starkly contrasts with the overall global trend, which saw a commendable 28% reduction in terrorism-related deaths worldwide, bringing the total to 5,582. The number of global terrorist attacks also saw a considerable decrease of nearly 22%.
Steve Killelea, the founder of the IEP, expressed profound concern over these diverging trends. He posited that a fracturing global order poses a significant risk to the substantial gains made in combating terrorism over the past decade. This sentiment is echoed by the findings concerning Western nations, which, despite the global decline, experienced a dramatic 280% increase in deaths from terrorism, reaching 57 in 2025. The United States, in particular, recorded its highest number of fatalities from terrorist incidents since 2019, with 28 deaths. The report attributes this localized rise in the West to factors such as the radicalisation of young people and the prevalence of lone-wolf actors, presenting a new and challenging dimension to counter-terrorism efforts.
The situation in Nigeria, with its multifaceted security challenges spanning north and central regions where ethnic militias and criminal gangs operate with impunity, underscores the difficulty of achieving lasting peace. The concurrent rise in violence in the DRC, driven by a persistent extremist group, suggests that while international efforts may be yielding dividends elsewhere, specific regional conflicts require targeted and sustained attention. The IEP's findings serve as a potent reminder that the fight against terrorism is far from over, and that localized crises can undermine broader global security progress.