“Dangerous Threats Persisted ” in 2019 despite Key Developments, says Annual State Department Terrorism Report

In its recently-released Country Reports on Terrorism, the U.S. State Department discusses what it says were the key developments in the fight against terrorism in 2019. As the report relates, some of these developments include the military operation that led to the death of former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the designation of Hizballah and other entities as terrorist groups, and new sanctions imposed on Iran, which it says is the “world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism.” Despite these developments, the report acknowledges “dangerous threats persisted around the world,” with the Islamic State adapting to fight via affiliates and inspiring followers to commit attacks and the Iranian regime continuing to perpetrate terrorist attacks on a global scale. The report also addresses new and ongoing challenges, highlighting the threat of racially of ethnically motivated terrorism, particularly white supremacist terrorism. Noting that this brand of terrorism represents a serious challenge for the global community, it recalls come of the deadly attacks in 2019, which included those that occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand and El Paso, Texas. Read the report at the U.S. State Department.