How World Technology is Affecting Terrorism

Technology is defined as the upgrade of day to day lives while considering practical knowledge. This technology is used to cope up with chaos and other complications inhabiting the lives of millions of people. The impact of modern technology in our lives is unfathomable. It is only due to this technology that now we are able to divulge with each other. On the other hand terrorist may be making nefarious propagandas against unimpeachable people. This use of modern technology widely came after 9/11. It is only after the advent of modern technology that the birth of terrorist activities has raised on large scale. In the past era terrorist activities were carried on small scale mainly due to the lack of expert skills in terms of media.

Usually a small crimes such as robbery was often committed, with this the use of dagger, noose and sword was customary. On the other hand nowadays due to various advancements in media the rate of terrorism is preceding day by day. Terrorist activities are largely increasing due the widespread of modern technology such as using more and more social networking sites. This contribution has greatly inflated the growth of terrorist activities. Derhowitz, the scholar of criminal law states that “It is only due to the commencement of digital world that has enabled terrorism to kill more efficiently.”

This clearly states that modern technology has a vast impact on growth of terrorism. There are several platforms on social media and internet like face book, twitter, telegram etc through which terrorist may be dispatching villainous plans with each other in order to commit disparate crimes. This has enabled them to exchange the information widely with the access to various links. Moreover, with this arsonists may be able to communicate with other arsonists around the globe that would also be a threat to illegal weapons coming from other countries to Pakistan, this use of illegal weapons has widely strengthen the formation of more propagandas.

The use of illegal networking sites has also contributed to the cause of human trafficking and the illegal use of drugs coming from other countries such as Balkan states brings more profit to international and local criminal organization contributing to the increased rate of crime. The drug market is increasing with online trade through dark web; these drugs are smuggled to Europe and Asia and these profits are than used for terrorist activities. With this by using social platforms, illegal weapons are also imported and exported around the globe. Furthermore, by using these sites terrorists may be taking illegal information due to which they are able to carry out flagitious plans that are detrimental for our country.

Haward, Law Professor states that “before the dawn of automatic weapons killing done by arsonists were deliberately.” Internet has become a major tool for terrorist; it has allowed organizations to communicate cheaply, allowing them to recruit to member, instigating global attacks around the world. This has also contributed to the greatest crime platform that is cyber terrorism. It is defined as the use of internet to cause great destruction. Skilled cyber terrorist can cause immense damage to government system such as illegally exploiting hospital records and security programs of any country.

By conducting fraudulent transactions they can also break on to the computer system. It can greatly devastate a country in terms if security and being a threat to proper maintenance of laws. Cyber terrorism is becoming eminent nowadays, with the access to dark webs terrorist can easily formulate and execute villainous propagandas.These propagandas can be conducted remotely which are cheaper as they do not require more investment in weapons and explosives. This method can cause enormous damage in terms of lack of economic development in the country.

NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization defines cyber terrorism as “a cyber attack using communication network to cause sufficient destruction.” AL QAEDA, a multinational organization also used internet to communicate with his supporters. Estonia, a Baltic state has emerged as a battleground for cyber terror in April, 2007. By using devices such as wifi many hackers are able to hijack airplanes, which create chaos and anarchy in the country. It is estimated that about four thousand people died due to worldwide terrorist attacks on planes, this also creates massive destruction.It was only after 2000’s that modern navigators were introduced which also accord to the increased rate of felony.

Secondly, the use of biological and chemical weapons has devastative affects they first attracted the attention on the battle fields of twentieth century. They are designed to kill much faster than other weapons. The use of chemical agents such as deadliest VS gas, a colorless odorless gas can be spread by these arsonists that cause rapid deaths. Therefore, the use of chemical agents and bombing are forty times more effective as comparable to conventional methods like kidnapping and ransom so they are manipulated extensively.

According to Global terrorism Index in 2015, 29,376, people were killed in terrorist attacks. More that 72% of terrorist deaths occurred last year in just 5 countries. The region’s most affected by the sharp increase in terrorist attacks are South Asia, North Africa and Middle East. They collectively account for 70% of attacks in last 10 years. The rate of terrorist activities has largely inflated in these countries, likewise Iraq and Syria also faced severe blow due to terrorist activities. It is important to mention that there was no significant progress towards terrorism before 1980 due to the lack of skills and enginery. Syria emerged as a major centre after 2010 while Iraq emerged after2000.

Terrorist activities continued to mount a wide number of attacks throughout Iraq According to the UN Assistance Mission it is estimated that terrorism influenced due to technology killed more than seven thousand people and injured more than twelve hundred people in Iraq. In 2016 there were car bombs, which were remote controlled they killed nearly 120 Iraqis .Likewise, in February two suicide bombers framed explosives that took lives of nearly 60 citizen. This shows that due to advancements in every field of life a button away created chaos and killed numerous people.

Similarly in 2015 a missile was triggered in Egypt which was also responsible for a gigantic blow. This clearly states that with the click of a mouse huge damage can spread unrest and upheaval in the society. There are immense reports of terrorism in Middle East and North Africa predominately because these countries are more developed in terms of industrialization and advanced technological infrastructure whereas terrorism is comparably less in Syria and Iraq because they are not developed countries and contribute to less advanced gadgetry.

With the world wide attack, terrorism in Pakistan has become a radical and a serious issue. The total death rate of terrorism has risen from 2003 to2009 from 164 to 3318 with the total of 35000 Pakistanis killed. Terrorism has risen on large scale, according to the government of Pakistan the total cost for fighting against terrorism consisted $68 billion rupees. Terrorism in Khyber Pakhtun Khawn has increased from 45% -58% while in Sindh it increased from 23% -68%.

These areas of Pakistan are the main hub for all propagandas using communication devices and the formation of explosives contribute to more lethal terrorist incidents. It is noteworthy to mention that the terrorist strategies have also changed to more modernization and the use of high tech gadgets. This shows that it has extended the crime related activities due to which Pakistan faces acute shortage of financial resources. The cost of putting down terrorism in different regions of Pakistan has greatly contributed to the loss of economic activities that resulted in overall lack of progress in Pakistan.

The region of Khyber Pakhtun Khawn and Sindh is a center of all the intrigues and conspiracies. It is also due to the surge in technology that suicide bombings are becoming a central tool for chaos nearly ten people died in a blast that occurred in Raiwand. According to the World Economic Forum Pakistan ranked 113 out of 130 countries in 2009 as a tourist destination. The low ranking was mainly due the rise in terrorist activities. Many hotels in swat and Peshawar have been closed due to persistent terrorist attacks, this have caused unemployment in the area. The cost of rectification is a large economic burden on Pakistan which hinders its growth.

Lastly, terrorism is becoming eminent nowadays mainly due the advanced innovations in modern technology. The greatest example of the terrorism in Pakistan was the deadliest attack by the Taliban in Army Public School, Peshawar in 2014. This pernicious act was also carried out with the help of automatic weapons and bombing, this caused more than 159 fatalities and approximately 121 people were severely injured. This attack caused widespread reaction around the globe. Another serious incendiary took place in Ghulshan Ravi which resulted in more than 75 deaths and many civilians were gravely injured.

The modern explosive vest was also utilized to create massive disruption. It is also noteworthy that traditional weapons like dagger contributed to less damage where as the innovation of latest weapons have tremendous effects so the relationship between technology and terrorism has long been clear. Moreover, the turmoil In Karachi has desperately shattered Pakistan’s economy.So it is clear that technology is the main igniting spark for terrorism. This widespread occurred in previous years due to the epidemic rise in modern technology. Transmission of data from one place to another around the globe is only due to technology, which makes it facile for the terrorists to map down their nefarious plans anywhere. If technology wasn’t present, then terrorism wouldn’t get the hype as it has been today.

Thus, the flourishment of terrorism and technology goes parallel. The only way to stigmatize the rapid rate of terrorism is to control technology on government level. Despite the impasse between the tech companies and government, there are still myriad ways in which government can mitigate the deleterious effects of terrorism. Strict law enforcements should be carried out by government against usage of illegal websites such as dark web, which provokes terrorism. Government should have keen eye on the growth of terrorism and should take initiatives against it by maintaining proper security laws. We can conduct NGOS that would specially highlight the effect of accelerated rate of terrorism due to technology. In contrast, we should also use technology for counterterrorism that would not only make us secure but would lead to the development of the country.

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