
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the largest number of terrorism attacks in the world this year, according to an interactive map.

The map, created by Esri Story Maps and PeaceTech Lab, shows that Islamic State has has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks so far on the map - 140 in total - while a group listed as 'other', such as lone wolves, closely follow behind with 130 attacks.

As a result, Islamic State is responsible for 1,180 deaths that have occurred as a result of terrorism this year, with the total number of deaths being 2,835 by 1pm on May 6.

A member of ISIS is seen waving the flag of the terror group while holding a gun in Raqqa, Syria (file photograph). Four attacks have taken place in Raqqa so far this year, which led to five people being killed

In April, two ISIS suicide bombers killed at least 45 people at churches in the cities of Alexandria and Tanta (pictured), one of the bloodiest attacks the country has experienced in years

African countries Maiduguri, Borno in Nigeria, and Mogadishu in Somalia, have the highest amount of fatalities in Africa due to terror groups Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab.

The map was created using Esri's Story Maps tool, which enables users to combine authoritative map visualisations with narrative text, images, and multimedia content to tell a story.

How can you operate the map? Due to its interactive nature, the map is able to be tailored to each individual user. A drop-down menu on the left allows people to single out where and when each perpetrator group has carried out an attack and how many people died as a result. The circles themselves can also be clicked on and list the same details as above. People are also able to zoom in and out of the map. If you want to see the attacks of previous years, you can amend the title in the URL, e.g. storymaps.esri.com/stories/terrorist-attacks/?year=2017 to storymaps.esri.com/stories/terrorist-attacks/?year=2016 Advertisement

Data from Wikipedia was used to build the map as it is updated by the community of users often on a real-time basis.

Giselle Lopez, senior specialist at PeaceTech Lab, added that the decision to use Wikipedia was because it was the 'best and most comprehensive real-time source'.

She added: 'Both Esri and PeaceTech Lab valued the crowdsourcing element, which enables the community to determine the content of how terrorist attacks are defined and classified, which can often be highly disputed.

'The map shows the difference in numbers and magnitude of attacks in places like Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia compared to Western countries, which tend to get far more coverage in international press.'

It highlights the perpetrators of attacks, and allows users to explore where particular groups are most active.

When explaining why the organisations decided to create the map, she said: 'In recent years, an increasing number of terrorist attacks have shocked communities around the world.

'Many of the gravest attacks have occurred in nations often overlooked by Western media, such as Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, and Bangladesh, as well as in more familiar war-torn locales like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

'The map was created to provide a real-time source of information on these attacks and shed light on where terrorism has been a major issue in terms of number of attacks, numbers of victims, active groups, or type of attack.

Three church bombings since December, in Cairo, Tanta (pictured) and Alexandria, have claimed about 70 lives and have had a traumatic effect on the Coptic minority

Mourners are pictured carrying the coffin of a victim of an ISIS attack on a church in Alexandria, Egypt, earlier this year

'We hope that by visualising the data behind violent extremism, we can bring an evidence-driven approach to the conversations and decisions that are often driven by fear.

'So far, we've been thrilled that organisations and individuals have found value in this project and we hope to continue to support this effort.'

Chief data scientist, Rohini Srihari, said: 'Data is one of the key elements to successful peacebuilding efforts, especially in supporting PeaceTech Lab’s mission of helping local peacebuilders. For example, we've seen sensors and crowd-sourced data used to provide alerts of imminent bombing raids in Syria.

'In other cases, satellite images are used to provide early-warning of crop failure, which can then be used to plan for potential refugee migration patterns.

'Social media analysis is being used to develop conflict reduction and intervention programs for countering hate speech.

'And finally, data can also be used to quantitatively assess the impact of intervention programs. More and more, the peacebuilding community is relying on data, particularly local data.'