KABUL - The Taliban overtook Islamic State militant group as the world's deadliest terrorist group in 2018, according to a report released by an international think tank on Wednesday.
The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) said that the number of deaths attributed to the Taliban rose by just under 71 percent to 6,103, and accounting for 38 percent of all deaths globally.
In contrast, deaths attributed to IS fell globally by just under 70 percent, falling from 4,350 in 2017, to 1,328 in 2018.
The report said that for the first time since 2013, IS was not deadliest terrorist group.
The report said that worldwide there had been 15,952 deaths caused by terrorism in 2018, a drop of 52 percent compared to 33,555 in 2014.
However, the report said that the number of countries affected by terrorism is growing, with 71 countries suffering from at least one death.
The fall in terrorism has also been accompanied by a reduction in the global economic impact of terrorism, decreasing by 38 per cent to US$33 billion in 2018, it said.
Based on the report, IS’s Khorasan Chapter was the fourth deadliest terrorist group in 2018, with over a thousand recorded deaths, majority of which happened in Afghanistan. (1TV NEWS)