Deadlier Than ISIS: Boko Haram Has Killed More People, Global Terror Report Says

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 20, 2015

Security forces view the scene of a bomb explosion at St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, on Dec. 25, 2011. Jihadist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility.

Niger soldiers provide security for an anti-Boko Haram summit in Diffa city, Niger September 3, 2015.

People gather at the scene of a bomb blast at a fruit and vegetable market in the Jimeta area of Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria, on November 18, 2015.

Map and charts comparing the attacks by government forces against Boko Haram, and attacks by Boko Haram on civilians and government forces since October 2014.

People who were rescued after being held captive by Boko Haram, sit as they wait for medical treatment at a camp near Mubi, northeast Nigeria October 29, 2015. Nigeria's armed forces on Wednesday said it had rescued 338 people held captive by Boko Haram and raided a number of the Islamist militant group's camps on the edge of its stronghold in the northeast's Sambisa forest.

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A newly released report on global terrorism has claimed that Nigeria's terror group Boko Haram killed more people than the Islamic State in 2014, committing crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and rape.

The findings, released by the Institute of Economics and Peace at the University of Maryland in its Global Terrorism Index 2015 report, stated that Boko Haram was responsible for 6,664 deaths in 2014, compared to the 6,073 deaths linked to IS in the same year.

The index stated that Nigeria witnessed "the largest increase in terror-related deaths ever recorded by any country," increasing by over 300 percent from 2013.

While IS continues to occupy the majority of terrorism-related headlines around the world, with it's conquest of several cities around Iraq and Syria, along with its major terror attacks on Western countries, Boko Haram has been active since 2009, attacking government buildings, shooting up Christian churches, and raiding entire villages and towns.

The Index noted that it wasn't the only terror group active in Nigeria in 2014, however, with Fulani militants killing another 1,229 people.

A gruesome video allegedly showing the executions of two men accused of working as police spies has been released by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram on March 2, 2015. | (Photo: Daily Mail video screencap)

The report also noted that five countries accounted for 78 percent of terror-related deaths around the world in 2014, namely Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.

The 111-page Global Terrorism Index also features a world map showing the regions where terror groups are most active, with countries in the Middle East and Africa experiencing the brunt of attacks.

Back in 2014 the Nigerian terror group pledged allegiance to the IS, and has began calling itself "Islamic State Africa," but remains known internationally as Boko Haram.

Both IS and Boko Haram have continued their mass killings throughout 2015, heavily persecuting Christians, but also Muslims and people of other faiths they deem opposed to their ideology.

In March, Boko Haram began mimicking IS' infamous propoganda beheading videos when it released for the first time public footage of the beheading of two men it claimed were spies.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had vowed to get rid of Boko Haram by the end of the year, but so far attacks have continued. At least 32 people were killed in a bomb blast in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola earlier this week, with officials suspecting Boko Haram of being responsible.

Overall, the researchers stated that over 140,000 people have died over the past 15 years directly due to terrorism, noting that there has been a nine-fold increase in the number of deaths since the beginning of the 21st century.

"The findings of this report emphasize the increasing intensity and spread of terrorist activity globally and point to the key underlying factors that give rise to terrorism," the report stated.

"Understanding the factors that are associated with higher levels of terrorism is vital to informing countering violent extremism policy. Without solutions to the underlying grievances or causes that lead to extremism, tackling terrorism will be more difficult," it concluded.