SUMMARY

UCDP data show several significant events for organized violence in 2019. The defeat of Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq has pushed the number of fatalities to just under 75 600, the lowest level since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. However, this de-escalation in Syria is countered by increased violence in Africa, as IS and other transnational jihadist groups have relocated their efforts there. Pushing into new territories, and continuing to spread terror with complex suicide attacks, IS still dominated the trend in organized violence, despite being severely weakened by large-scale offensives. Furthermore, violence has continued to increase in Afghanistan, in spite of attempts at negotiating peace, and the country witnessed its bloodiest year since the end of the Soviet intervention in 1989. UCDP recorded more than 31 200 fatalities in Afghanistan in 2019, which accounts for 40% of all fatalities from organized violence across the globe.