The level of international terrorist activity remained high in 1986, despite a slight decline in the total number of incidents.’ This halts, at least temporarily, the dramatic upward trend in the number of incidents experienced in the previous two years. In the first part of
1986, terrorism continued to rise, but increased counter- terrorist cooperation among Western nations undoubtedly played an important role in checking the escalation of terrorism for the rest of the year. US military action against Libya in April and subsequent European diplomatic and security actions against Libya and Syria for their involvement in some of the year’s major attacks helped to curb activities by terrorists supported by those countries after midyear. Nevertheless, the overall high level of activity combined with the continuing increase in attacks aimed at innocent bystanders and intended to cause mass casual- ties keep international terrorism as a priority item for concern.
