Libya Rank On Global Terrorism Index Increases Amid Escalating Violence In Benghazi, Tripoli

Libya is now the 15th country in the world most plagued by terrorism, up nine places since 2012, according to a report published last week by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent research organization known for its Global Peace Index reports. The report published by the organization is based on data from 2013. In 2011, before the civil war began that led to the downfall and murder of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya was ranked 90th on the index.

Vision of Humanity is a website run by the Institute for Economics and Peace that measures the impact of terrorism in 162 countries. According to the site, to account for "the lasting effects of terrorism," each country is given a score that represents a five-year weighted average. In 2013, 17,958 people were killed by terrorist attacks.

The number of terrorist attacks around the world has increased over recent years. Today, more than 80 percent of all terrorism occurs in only five countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. The majority of those attacks were performed by four main terrorist organizations: the Taliban, Boko Haram, the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

In 2013, Libya was one of 24 countries in the world that had 50 or more people killed in terrorist attacks. In total, 121 people died in 226 terrorist attacks in 2013, injuring 151 people. In 2012, there were only 28 people killed in 51 terrorist attacks, which injured 35 people.

Violence in Libya decreased following the death of Gadhafi, but has increased in recent months as another civil war has broken out in the country. Today in Libya, there are two groups that claim to be the official government. The two bodies are loosely aligned with different factions of militias in the country.

In August, Libya Dawn, a militia that opponents say is supported by Islamists, seized the capital and forced the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to move east to Tobruk. The government that is now based in Tripoli is run by Omar al-Hassi.

Libya's House of Representatives, supported by the Thinni government, declared a formal alliance with rebel Gen. Khalifa Hifter last month. Hifter supported Gadhafi when he was a high-ranking officer, but turned against him in the 1980s during the war with Chad. He is now at the head of a militia that supports moderate values against radical Islam in a campaign called "Operation Dignity."