The most recent update of a database that tracks global terrorism events shows the number of terror attacks has declined for a third consecutive year.
The University of Maryland's Global Terrorism Database on Wednesday of this year produced updated data showing terror attacks peaked in 2014 with about 17,000 events, then declined to about 11,000 in 2017. Fatalities from the attacks fell by about half during the same time.
A large part of the decrease can be attributed to the continuing loss of power for ISIS, although the group still remained the most active overall according to an analysis of the data by Quartz. The number of attacks ISIS was responsible for in 2017 fell by about 10 percent, yet at the same time the number of fatalities that group was responsible for fell more sharply by 40 percent.
Despite the decreases, the totals would still need to be halved in order to return to levels last seen in 2010 and 2011.
Even with the overall downswing, the United States is still battling an increase in attacks from "homegrown" terrorists, most of whom had affiliated themselves with ISIS, according to a recent report by Congress.
"Jihadist threats from homegrown terrorists in America continue to increase each month, with at least nine foreign born individuals living in the United States arrested or convicted in June of attempting to launch attacks on behalf of ISIS and other global terrorist organizations," the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The July report from the House Homeland Security Committee said that " [s]ince 2013, there have been 154 homegrown jihadist cases in the United States," which were spread across 30 states.