Global terror attacks soar in 2014, deaths up 81%: US

[WASHINGTON] Global terror attacks soared by a third in 2014 with an 81 percent spike in the number of deaths, the United States said Friday in a grim annual report.

"The number of terrorist attacks in 2014 increased 35 per cent and total fatalities increased 81 per cent compared to 2013, largely due to activity in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria," the report says, adding the civil war in Syria was a significant factor driving instability.

In total, there were 13,463 attacks in 2014 which killed 32,727 people, up on 9,700 assaults in 2013 in which 17,800 died.

The sharp jump in the number of attacks, in which a further 34,700 people were injured in some 95 countries, was largely due to activity in Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria, the report says.

Kidnappings also increased three-fold around the world with more than 9,400 people taken hostage, three times as many as in 2013.

AFP