At least 21 people were killed when gunmen attacked a the Bacha Khan University campus in Charsadda in north-west Pakistan. The recent series of deadly attacks in Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Turkey, Cameroon and other countries show that global terror is on the rise.
On Monday morning, four people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Cameroon by the Islamist group Boko Haram. On Friday the week before, at least 29 people of 18 different nationalities were killed in the terrorist attack in the capital Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. The target of the attack, the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino Restaurant are places of high traffic in central Ouagadougou used by many international institutions including the BWI and trade unions for organizing conferences and seminars.
In Istanbul, Turkey, a deadly suicide bombing attack killed ten people dead and left at least 15 people injured on Tuesday the 12th of January. This was the fourth terror attack conducted by Daesh (Islamic state, IS) on Turkish soil after the twin bombings in Reyhanli in May 2013 (52 dead), the suicide bombing attack in Suruc in July 2015 (32 dead) and the twin suicide bombing attack in Ankara in October 2015 (95 dead).
Groups connected to Daesh also took credit for last Thursday’s terror attacks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta that killed eight people (including four civilians – three Indonesians and an Algerian-Canadian) and wounded another 23. Daesh are increasingly looking to Southeast Asia as both a target and a source of potential supporters.
Rallies have been held across Indonesia to condemn the deadly attack with signs that say “We are not affraid”.
“Ultimately, it is workers who are most affected by these attacks, both the events themselves and subsequent counter-terrorism laws that often restrict basic civil liberties,” said BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson. “We extends our deepest sympathies to those that have lost loved ones and look forward to working alongside our affiliates to strengthen democracy and prevent future attacks.”
The Islamist extremist of Daesh has also claimed a recent attack on a Pakistani TV station in an attempt to stop free speech and in the Pakistani city of Peshawar schools are closing after terrorist threats.
“For the BWI, its affiliates and trade unions around the world the answer to attacks like these must be to build ever stronger cross-border cooperation against global inequalities. We must continue to fight exploitation, repression, unemployment, climate destruction, poverty and hunger. That is the only way to create a safer world for us all