Islamic terror watch organization TheReligionofPeace.com has been keeping track of Islamist attacks since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City. The number of attacks has increased steadily since that time, and is expected to reach 25,000 next month.
“The breadth and number of attacks increased dramatically in the years since 9/11,” Glen Roberts, the editor of the website, told The Speaker. He expects the toll–which currently sits at 24,815–will reach 25,000 “probably during the second week in February.”
The watch organization regularly updates a list of all deadly terrorist attacks committed by Muslims since the Twin Towers Attack, in which almost 3,000 people were killed. The killings take place at a rate of around five per day, according to the organization, and happen almost every day.
“It looks like there have been only 12 days since the beginning of 2005 without at least one Islamic attack,” Roberts told us.
TROP’s counter does not measure deaths, only attacks, Roberts said. The total number for deaths has not been tallied, although the organization records deaths among their weekly and monthly figures. Last month, for example, the group recorded 2,497 dead and 2,225 critically injured in 233 Jihad attacks in 30 countries, including 33 Allah Akbars (suicide attacks).
Roberts said that although the breath and number of attacks increased after 9/11, the date did not mark the beginning of Islamist terror.
“The rate at which people died from Islamic violence was probably much greater prior to this,” Roberts told us. “There was less attention focused on terror campaigns in places like Algeria and East Timor, for example, even though the loss of life was staggering. Another example is Bangladesh, where several million people lost their lives in the early 1970’s during independence, a great many of whom were Hindu.”
The 25,000 number is expected to be significantly lower than the actual number, however, because not all attacks are picked up by international news sources, and reported deaths are undercounted because death can occur days after reporting due to trauma, the organization qualifies.
The list is composed of incidents of deadly violence that the organization has deemed to have been motivated by the perpetrators’ interpretation of religious duty, and does not include regular incidents of violence involving nominal Muslims, according to the watch group.
“Any terrorist attack resulting in death in which religious motivation it can reasonably be assumed to have played a role is included on our list. We include honor killings on the list, but they are not a part of the overall tally since we do not want to stretch the definition of terrorism too far.”