Corruption, violence and tribal warfare help make these spots among the globe's most violent.
Just before the New Year, seven Americans who were working with the Central Intelligence Agency were killed when a Jordanian double agent entered a gym on a U.S. base in Afghanistan's Khost Province and detonated his explosive vest. The bomber, who was working with both the violent Haqqani Group and the CIA, caused the worst death toll suffered by the agency since 1983, when eight of its personnel were killed in an embassy bombing in Beirut.
Days before, a would-be suicide bomber from Nigeria was wrestled to the floor of a Northwest Airlines ( NWA - news - people ) flight from Amsterdam to Detroit when the explosive chemicals he’d sewn into his underwear failed to detonate.
While a U.S.-bound commercial jet and a rural military base in a war-torn nation are night and day in terms of everyday security threats, the recent events illustrate that no place is truly, 100% safe all the time. And in between the two are dozens of countries where danger is just a part of everyday life.
Afghanistan tops our list of the world's most dangerous countries. Even with thousands of private security and army personnel there (and 20,000 more U.S. troops to be deployed), certain parts of the country, like the region bordering Pakistan--where it's said that nearly every resident owns some sort of automatic weapon for protection's sake--are hotbeds of violence.
Longstanding tribal warfare, political corruption and--ironically--the increased military presence all have combined to push Afghanistan's violence from being concentrated in a few areas like the Khost Province in the southeastern border region, to being displaced to other regions that were once deemed safer, like the north. Also, transit routes for military personnel and private contractors are big targets for militants. The more roads are built, the more violence spreads out to areas lacking security forces.
Ed Daly, a director at Maryland-based risk-assessment firm iJet, says that the growing number of attacks on both foreign troops and civilians far beyond traditional Pashtun areas suggest that Afghanistan is only going to get worse.
"Political corruption is fueling disaffection among Afghans," adds Claudine Fry, an analyst with risk-assessment firm Control Risk in London. Having failed to see improvements that the government and military leaders had promised, many Afghanis have become disgruntled--some even taking up arms with the Taliban for a wage, Fry notes.
Somalia, like Afghanistan, is also experiencing a displacement of violence and ranks third on our list. The country's piracy problem and political vacuum--it hasn't had a proper functioning government in about 15 years--are two reasons why it remains one of the most dangerous on earth. With the international military response to piracy still looking inadequate, Somalia's infamous pirates have been sailing further afield into waters where they are less likely to be caught.
The European Union's anti-piracy naval force says that the number of attacks has fallen in the last year, but iJet analyst Rahwa Tesfay believes the pirates are just "shifting territory" to places like the Seychelles, a popular holiday destination in the Indian Ocean.
"Piracy will only continue, if not increase," says Tesfay. "The business is lucrative and there's no real effective military response."
Dangerous, But Attractive
It's well known that countries like Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen, which also feature at the top of our list, are extremely dangerous to visit, yet Afghanistan is still teeming with foreigners, according to both iJet and Control Risks. And the numbers of people visiting the country each year have yet to fall.
The two organizations could not put a number on the expats living or working in the country, but there are thousands of people from China, India, Africa and Europe in Kabul, not just with the military or non-governmental organizations, but companies with business interests there. Enormous, up-for-grabs infrastructure and mining contracts fuel the influx of foreigners willing to risk their lives for a big payday.
Along with giving up safety, foreigners mostly give up a sense of a normal life when they move to a dangerous country. They usually live in guest houses or hotels where employers provide security. While there are a number of restaurants in Kabul offering Chinese, Indian or Italian food along with local Afghan cuisine, one shouldn’t bother looking for nightlife. There isn't much going on after 11 p.m., and it isn't safe to wander. Most smart visitors simply stay indoors.
Staying home might be even smarter.
1. Afghanistan - U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to send thousands more American troops to Afghanistan, but the Taliban insurgency is growing in scope, scale and confidence. Many Afghans have become disgruntled with the government's failure to improve their socioeconomic circumstances; some have even taken up arms with the Taliban for a wage. The area bordering Pakistan is the most dangerous, but violence is spreading to rural areas, with insurgents increasingly targeting civilians as well as security forces.
2. Iraq - While there has been a fall in violence in the last year, militants are concentrating their attacks on infrastructure, with a concerted effort to strike at the heart of the government. Around 4,500 civilians were killed in Iraq last year, according to Iraq Body Count, an independent monitoring organization. Security experts believe that Iraqi elections slated for March 7 will be accompanied by a rise in sectarian violence driven by former Baathists and al-Qaida.
3. Somalia - Somalia is known for its piracy problem, but the situation on land has also been extremely chaotic. The government of President Adullahi Yusuf Ahmed has struggled to gain control beyond parts of the capital, Mogadishu, while militant insurgents have expanded their control in southern Somalia. Despite an international anti-piracy naval mission in the Gulf of Aden, pirates have staged dozens of successful hijackings, several as far south in as the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean
4. Pakistan - Locals here are losing confidence in their shaky and besieged civilian government, which has been launching offensives against Taliban militants; yet a crushing wave of terrorist attacks continues. According to risk consultancy iJet, sectarian and ethnic violence in the commercial capital of Karachi has shown that Pakistan’s problems run much deeper than the challenges posed by the Taliban.
5. Sudan - Ethnic violence in southern Sudan has been escalating dramatically, surpassing conflict-ridden Darfur. Bandits have been targeting foreign aid workers in particular, making the western region especially insecure. Rising political tensions between the north and south will probably increase as elections approach in 2010 and a referendum on southern independence takes place in 2011.
6. Yemen - On the Arabian peninsula and bordering Saudi Arabia, Yemen has been beset by a number of complex security challenges: A widening conflict between the north and south and a separatist rebellion in the north has drawn in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, al-Qaida is ever-present. The sudden and recent focus on Yemen by Western powers may bring in more money and training, but it may also invigorate Islamists spoiling for yet another fight with the West.
7. Democratic Republic of Congo - Human rights abuses and violence against civilians have been worsening in this former French colony in central Africa. The military has been aggressively tracking down Hutu rebels, which has increased insecurity in the Eastern provinces. A survey by the Red Cross in 2009 showed that three-quarters of the population had been affected in some way by continuing armed conflict.3
8. Guinea - Guinea's future started to look more uncertain when the military junta led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camarra showed no signs of returning power to civilian rule. There was a massacre of opposition supporters in Conakry and, in return, an assassination coup attempt against Camarra by his aide. Camarra is still hospitalized in Senegal and the country is being led by an interim president--political chaos could continue for some time.
9. Russian Caucasus - Violence in Russia’s North Caucasus--including Chechnya, North Ossetia and Daghestan--is on the rise with July 2009 being one of the bloodiest months in years, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. There were 445 deaths due to violent incidents in the region in 2009, compared with 217 in the previous year. Recent attacks by Islamic extremists in the region have focused on the local police force and government leaders.
10. Nigeria - Oil-rich Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, yet violence continues to be driven by religious fundamentalists fighting over the imposition of Islamic (or Sharia) law while kidnappings and attacks target the oil industry. President Umaru Yar'Adua recently went AWOL after flying to Saudi Arabia to be treated for a heart complaint. Angry protestors point to a cover-up on the seriousness of his condition, putting the country in constitutional crisis.
11. Chad - Right in the middle of Africa, Chad's strenuous relations with Sudan are key to the conflict in Darfur, and the two countries have accused each other of supporting rebels fighting for more power. Reuters recently reported that rebels from Chad were raping, beating and looting villagers in western Sudan's North Darfur region. The country is one of the poorest and most politically corrupt in the world.
12. The Sahel - The border region of Algeria, Niger, Mali and Mauritania has seen several kidnappings by al-Qaida of foreign tourists and diplomats from Spain, Austria and Canada, among other countries. The United Nations has also sounded the alarm about drug smuggling after the discovery of a burnt-out Boeing airliner in the Malian desert that was allegedly transporting cocaine from South America.
13. Haiti - One of the world's most impoverished nations, this former French colony has been beset by political violence since it became the first black republic in 1804. United Nations troops helped settle some of the gang violence that swept through the country several years ago, but poverty and hunger continue to fuel violence, as does political instability. The disastrous earthquake that destroyed much of Port-au-Prince is likely to make things much worse.
14. Colombia - Over the last 10 years Colombia has managed to bring down its murder and kidnapping rates and successfully contain insurgents and paramilitary groups. But the conflict between military forces and guerrillas, all played out against a backdrop of the illegal drugs trade and fighting over natural resources, has yet to be clear and has led millions of people to flee the country.
15. Zimbabwe - The coalition government between dictator-president Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed in February 2009 doesn't seem to have stopped the fear of organized violence fuelled by political allegiances. Members of the opposition party led by Tsvangirai claim to have received death threats and fear another surge of politically motivated violence at the country's next election. Rather unfortunately, the 85-year-old Mugabe still looks to be in good health.
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