Terrorist Attacks | Data Source Highlight

Knoema developed this special visualization series to highlight the variety of sources available to track and examine trends in various types of conflict and terrorism-related violence worldwide. Combined with traditional macroeconomic and sociodemographic information and even new indicators for social unrest and transformation, social scientists to security analysts to the average informed citizens now have easier and more reliable access to this valuable data type than ever before. At the bottom of each page, we offer live links to featured and additional conflict datasources. As always, each dataset includes links to the original data source so that you can learn more about the methodology used by sources to collect, verify, and categorize conflict information.

Armed Conflicts | Political Conflicts | Terrorist Attacks

Featured conflict data source: The Global Terrorism Database

Definitions:

• A terrorist attack is the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation. 
• A bombing/explosion is an attack in which the primary effects are caused by an energetically unstable material undergoing rapid decomposition and releasing a pressure wave that causes physical damage to the surrounding environment.
• An armed assault is an attack whose primary objective is to cause physical harm or death directly to human beings by use of a firearm, incendiary, or sharp instrument.  
• An assassination is a act whose primary objective is to kill one or more specific, prominent individuals. 
• Hostage taking (or, kidnapping) is an act whose primary objective is to take control of hostages for the purpose of achieving a political objective through concessions or through disruption of normal operations.