Institute for Economics and Peace published its annual Global Terrorism Index (GTI). It summarizes global terrorism trends over the past decade, based on over 66,000 terrorist incidents since 2007. The GTI ranks 163 countries using four indicators: number of attacks, fatalities, injuries, and hostages, weighted over five years.
The top three most-affected countries are Burkina Faso, Pakistan, and Syria. Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan scored 0 on the GTI 2024, ranking among the lowest-risk countries for terrorism. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan ranked 90th (0.233 points) and Tajikistan 70th (0.999 points), indicating higher but still relatively low risk. Overall, Eurasia recorded 18 terrorist attacks in 2023, resulting in 199 deaths, the highest number since 2010.
However, Turkmenistan is not completely immune to the threat of terrorism. Since NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan (2021), Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has increased attacks, including targeting foreign nationals. In August 2021 two Pakistani nationals carrying explosives were detained near the Turkmenistan Embassy in Kabul, highlighting regional threats. Similarly, ISKP has broadened its recruitment beyond Tajiks to include Turkmen and Kyrgyz nationals. In July 2023, law enforcement in Germany and the Netherlands arrested individuals of Tajik, Turkmen, and Kyrgyz origin for ISKP-linked activities.
While Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries remain low-risk according to the GTI, regional instability, particularly from ISKP, poses ongoing security challenges.
