The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released the statistical information on global terrorism in 2013, and the figures paint a bleak picture. In 2013, terrorism came back with a vengeance.

The world was victim to 9,707 terrorist attacks in 2013, resulting in 17,891 deaths and 32,500 injuries. In addition, more than 2,990 people were kidnapped or taken hostage. Despite the work of nations such as the United States, terrorist attacks grew in frequency and potency in 2013 when compared to the year prior.

The U.S. Code defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.” In a nutshell, suicide attacks, bombings, shootings, murders, maiming and intimidation are all on the rise. Ten attacks used chemical or biological agents of mass destruction. There were 13 hijackings recorded. Also, 510 suicide attacks occurred, resulting in more than 3,800 deaths and 7,700 injuries. These were just the unarmed attacks!

On average, 808.91 terrorist attacks occurred per month. The Boston Marathon bombing in April last year was just one such incident. Think of the other 807.91 attacks that would have taken place in the same month! While many were not in America, or perhaps didn’t claim as many lives, the staggering number still stands as a testimony to the magnitude of the problem.

“Why has the human mind produced such awesome modern progress, yet remains helpless in the face of such appalling evils?” Herbert W. Armstrong asked in What Science Can’t Discover About the Human Mind. Even in tackling terrorism—despite the vast array of surveillance and military technology by which terrorism is combated—the problem is increasing.

The government report explained that the 10 countries that experienced the most terrorist attacks in 2013 were the same as those that experienced the most attacks in 2012. Adding greater condemnation to the figures, the total number of attacks increased for nine of those 10 countries.

Although terrorist attacks occurred in 93 different countries in 2013, they were heavily concentrated geographically. More than half of all attacks (57 percent) and fatalities (66 percent), and nearly three quarters of all injuries (73 percent) occurred in three countries: Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The irony of this is that the U.S. has invested billions of dollars and vast amounts of resources and soldiers to the Middle East in an effort to bring stability to an otherwise volatile region. Iraq was occupied by U.S. forces until the start of 2012, yet look at it today. Compared to 2012, there were more than twice as many terrorist attacks reported in Iraq in 2013. Likewise, the total number killed increased 162 percent and the total number wounded increased 125 percent over the previous year.

A copy of the 11-page report can be viewed here.

Such reports indicate that terrorism is becoming a more prevalent problem as time goes on, despite efforts to stamp it out. To understand why, read Gerald Flurry’s article “Why We Cannot Win the War Against Terrorism.”