It estimates that 241,000 people have died as a direct result of the war since the US invaded Afghanistan post 9/11. Approximates that 71,344 of the deaths were civilian deaths. Afghan police and military who fought together with US troops have lost an estimated 66,000+ soldiers. This artcile also illustrates how this war between the U.S. and Afghanistan has resulted in less direct subsequent deaths. For example, thousands of deaths can be attributed to hunger, disease and injury. 

The blog identifies the life condition’s which have improved since the US invaded (however, it cannot be said that these improved due to US invasion) such as life expectancy, unemployment rate and maternal mortality. 

It depicts how attacks against civilians are on the risk and expects 2021 to be on track to be the worst year since 2017. 

In the aftermath of the event, there has been policy formulation in an attempt to prevent a similar event from occurring again. If legislated, this would allow the US Government and law enforcement to be better prepared in terms of domestic terrorism, knowledge sharing and resource allocation. The current President of the US, Joe Biden has declared that this event of terrorism was not only an attack on the Capitol but democracy. Offenders that have been caught in the attack are already starting to be released. For example, a man who sat at the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi’s desk with his feet up, has been released from custody. However, there are further offenders that have not been caught or sentenced yet. These violent acts caused further civil unrest and divide within the US, which was promulgated by the November 2020 election campaign and other recent events like the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The age of lone wolf terrorism can be traced to August 15, 2011, when President Barack Obama announced that a lone wolf terrorist strike in the United States is more likely than a major coordinated effort like the 9/11 attacks. The ongoing threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has not only inspired fear amongst many powerful nations but in the recent years has inspired the act of many lone wolf terrorist attacks. 

Unfortunately, a challenge of defeating lone actor terrorists is having to deal with its leaderless model. Often governments can struggle to identify these long actor attacks before they happen because of their unpredictability. 

On the 23rd of May 2017, Marawi, a city in the Philippines, was subject to a firefight between the Philippine government forces and militants who were IS-aligned.  The shock siege was the result of years of suppression from the Philippine Governments' attempts to control terrorism in their region after 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. 

The brutal siege of five months saw several civilians detained in inhumane conditions for copious amounts of time.

The Islamic stronghold was established in the Philippines through the Abu Sayyaf Group and their affiliation with Al Qaeda and now with ties to the Islamic state. The Abu Sayyaf Group has and still has an active base in the Philippines which raises concerns of a repeat of the 2017 atrocities in Marawi. Conflict supposedly began after the Philippine Government became aware of Isnilon Hapilon potentially meeting with militants of the Maute Group. Isilon Hapilon was the leader of the ISIL-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group hence the government began planning his capture which sparked conflict. The Maute group were founded by Omar Maute and Abdullah Maute and was a Islamic group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and foreign fighters. The Maute group were affiliated with the IS and alleged that they were the founders of the Dawlah or the Islamic state base in the Philippines. The group has around 60-70 members. The siege left 360,000 displaced Marawi citizens and more from neighbouring states. This increases the risk of disenfranchised children becoming targeted for Islamic recruitment hence the growing worry of Islamic presence in the Philippines.