Originally published April 28, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified April 28, 2007 at 2:01 AM
Iraq, Afghanistan fuel jump in terror attacks
A state Department report on terrorism due out next week will show a nearly 30 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide in 2006 to...
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — A State Department report on terrorism due out next week will show a nearly 30 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide in 2006 to more than 14,000, almost all of the boost due to growing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Friday.
The annual report's release comes amid a bitter feud between the White House and Congress over funding for U.S. troops in Iraq and a deadline favored by Democrats to begin a U.S. troop withdrawal.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her top aides earlier this week had considered postponing or downplaying the release of this year's edition of the report, officials in several agencies and on Capitol Hill said.
But they decided to issue the report on or near the congressionally mandated deadline of Monday, the officials said.
A half-dozen U.S. officials with knowledge of the report's contents or the debate surrounding it agreed to discuss those topics on condition they not be identified.
Based on data compiled by the U.S. intelligence community's National Counterterrorism Center, the report says there were 14,338 terrorist attacks last year, up 29 percent from 11,111 attacks in 2005.
Forty-five percent of the attacks were in Iraq.
Worldwide, there were about 5,800 terrorist attacks that resulted in at least one death, also up from 2005.
The figures for Iraq and elsewhere are limited to attacks on noncombatants and don't include strikes against U.S. troops.
Even after this year's report was largely completed and approved, Rice and her aides called for further review, which is being led by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, formerly the nation's intelligence czar.
The U.S. intelligence community is said to be preparing a separate, classified report on terrorist "safe havens" worldwide, and officials have debated whether Iraq meets that definition.
The report can be expected to be used as ammunition for both sides in the domestic battle over the Iraq war.
![]()
President Bush and his aides routinely call Iraq the "central front" in Bush's war on terrorism and likely will say the preponderance of attacks there and in Afghanistan prove their point.
But critics say the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq have worsened the terrorist threat.
Among last year's major strikes were bombings in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Dahab on April 24, which killed 23 people and injured more than 60, and aboard trains in Bombay, India, that left more than 200 dead and more than 700 wounded July 11.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
Awaiting daughter's birth, astronaut busy on spacewalk
Anti-Taliban militias arise in Afghanistan
China coal mine blast death toll jumps to 87
Iran gets ready for military exercises

LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham talks about the upcoming MLS Cup final during after a team practice.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Tugboat sinks on Seattle's waterfront
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Senate vote clears hurdle
237 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
119 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
119 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
116 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
116 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
87 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
87 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
53 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
48
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'





