Hata Ryan, Hart Alexander, Hertelendy Attila, Tin Derrick, Taubman Cara, Cheng Lenard, Ciottone Gregory R
BIDMC Fellowship in Disaster Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston, MassachusettsUSA.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsUSA.
Prehosp Disaster Med. 2023 Apr;38(2):216-222. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X23000080. Epub 2023 Jan 30.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has become a hotspot for global terrorism, with nearly 50% of global terror-related deaths occurring in SSA in 2021. With a large population and complex geopolitical and social climate, terrorist activity further burdens an already strained medical system. This study provides a retrospective descriptive analysis of terrorist-related activity in SSA from 1970-2020.
A retrospective analysis of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) was performed for the region of SSA from 1970-2020. Data were filtered using the internal database search function for all events in the following countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, People's Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Rhodesia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Number of attacks, deaths, and injuries, as well as primary weapons types, country where attacks occurred, and primary target types, were collated and analyzed.
A total 19,320 attacks were recorded, resulting in 77,565 deaths and 52,986 injuries. Firearms were the most frequent weapons used (8,745), followed by explosives (6,031), unknown (2,615), and incendiary (1,246), with all others making up the remainder (683.) Private citizens and property were the most frequently targeted entities (8,031), followed by general government facilities (2,582), police (1,854), business (1,446), military (805), diplomatic government facilities (741), and religious figures/institution (678), with all other targets making up the remainder (3,183).
The majority of deaths from terrorism in SSA are the result of firearm attacks and explosions. Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan have had the largest number of attacks since 1970, and Nigeria has the largest number of people killed and injured. The health implications of terrorist attacks are often compounded by violence and pose unique challenges to governments, populations, and aid organizations. By understanding the impact and scope of terrorist activity in SSA, Counter-Terrorism Medicine (CTM) initiatives can be employed to improve health care outcomes.
撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）已成为全球恐怖主义的热点地区，2021年全球近50%与恐怖主义相关的死亡事件发生在该地区。由于人口众多、地缘政治和社会气候复杂，恐怖主义活动进一步加重了本就不堪重负的医疗系统的负担。本研究对1970年至2020年撒哈拉以南非洲与恐怖主义相关的活动进行了回顾性描述分析。
对1970年至2020年撒哈拉以南非洲地区的全球恐怖主义数据库（GTD）进行回顾性分析。使用内部数据库搜索功能对以下国家的所有事件进行数据筛选：安哥拉、贝宁、博茨瓦纳、布基纳法索、布隆迪、喀麦隆、中非共和国、乍得、科摩罗、刚果民主共和国、吉布提、赤道几内亚、厄立特里亚、埃塞俄比亚、加蓬、冈比亚、加纳、几内亚、几内亚比绍、科特迪瓦、肯尼亚、莱索托、利比里亚、马达加斯加、马拉维、马里、毛里塔尼亚、莫桑比克、纳米比亚、尼日尔、尼日利亚、刚果人民共和国、刚果共和国、罗德西亚、卢旺达、塞内加尔、塞舌尔、塞拉利昂、索马里、南非、南苏丹、苏丹、斯威士兰、坦桑尼亚、多哥、乌干达、扎伊尔、赞比亚和津巴布韦。对袭击次数、死亡人数、受伤人数，以及主要武器类型、袭击发生的国家和主要目标类型进行了整理和分析。
共记录了19320起袭击事件，造成77565人死亡，52986人受伤。枪支是最常用的武器（8745件），其次是爆炸物（6031件）、不明武器（2615件）和燃烧物（1246件），其他武器构成其余部分（683件）。公民个人和财产是最常被袭击的目标（8031个），其次是政府一般设施（2582个）、警察（1854个）、企业（1446个）、军队（805个）、外交政府设施（741个）和宗教人物/机构（678个），其他目标构成其余部分（3183个）。
撒哈拉以南非洲地区恐怖主义造成的死亡大多是枪支袭击和爆炸的结果。自1970年以来，尼日利亚、索马里、南非、刚果民主共和国和苏丹发生的袭击事件最多，尼日利亚的伤亡人数最多。恐怖袭击对健康的影响往往因暴力而更加复杂，给政府、民众和援助组织带来了独特的挑战。通过了解撒哈拉以南非洲地区恐怖主义活动产生的影响和范围，可以采用反恐医学（CTM）举措来改善医疗保健成果。
