Terror risk list: Somalia 1st, Pak 2nd, India 16th

Even though the terrorist situation in Iraq has improved, the frequency, scale and human impact of attacks still makes it the most extreme risk country for terrorism, with nearly 4,500 civilians killed in 2009, says a new report

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Iraq top for the second year the Terrorism Risk Index (TRI) -- developed by Maplecroft, a London-based risk advisory company -- that discloses the countries most at risk from terrorist attacks.

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Somalia tops the Terrorism Risk Index.

Maplecroft said Somalia suffered 556 terrorist incidents, in which 1,437 people were killed and 3,408 wounded, between June 2009 and June 2010, the period on which the rankings are based.

Much of Somalia's violence has been attributable to the Al Qaeda-aligned al Shabaab militant group, which has been fighting a weak transitional government for three years and now controls swathes of the south and centre of the country.

Iraq, where sectarian carnage unleashed after the 2003 US-led invasion is receding, is now in the third place.

The largest change in the rankings was reserved for Greece, which moved from number 57 to 24 to become the European country most at risk, a trend the consultancy said was due to violent left-wing groups.

Afghanistan showed better trends than its neighbour Pakistan. It dropped two places to take the fourth spot in the Index.

The Maplecroft report found no major Western economies in the high or 'extreme risk' bracket; the United States (ranked 33 on the risk index), France (44) and the United Kingdom (46) all remain in the 'medium-risk' category.

Palestinian Occupied Territories take the fifth spot in the Index.

Maplecroft explained that TRI used data from June 2009 to June 2010 to assess the frequency of terrorist incidents and intensity of attacks, including number of victims per attack and the chances of mass casualties occurring.

India, ranked 16th in the list, has been categorised as an 'extreme risk' nation in the index of global terror risk.

"India experienced a total of 749 terrorist incidents between June 2009 and June 2010. This compares to 775 terrorist attacks between June 2008 and 2009, a year previously. Levels of terrorism in India have thus remained constant and the country's ranking has remained in the extreme risk category," the index explained.

India experienced a significant number of mass-casualty attacks -- 127 attacks resulted in 100 or more fatalities.

Colombia, Thailand and the Philippines have been ranked sixth, seventh and eight in the terror index.

The Terrorism Risk Index includes a historical component assessing the number of attacks between 2007 and 2009 and looks at whether a country is at risk from a long-standing militant group operating there.

The United States ranks 33rd in the 'medium risk' category before Algeria (36th), France (44th) and the United Kingdom (47th).

The ranking of France has remained constant, "the majority of terrorist acts have been perpetrated by non-fatal attacks of separatist organisations in Corsica."

However, France remains the target of AQAP, believes Maplecroft.