Endless terror in Syria.
A climbing death toll in Yemen for citizens caught between warring sides.
Bombings in Beirut.
Where to start in looking back at what were deemed terrorist acts around the world in 2015?
Thousands lost their lives in such acts, with the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or IS, claiming responsibility in several cases.
Hannah Sinclair takes a look at some of the attacks that dominated world -- and Australian -- headlines.
It was Turkey's worst such attack ever -- at least 95 people dead and over 240 wounded.
Two bombs ripped through a crowd of pro-Kurdish and peace activists outside the main train station in the capital Ankara in early October.
A witness described the carnage.
(Translated)"Everyone was dancing when the explosions hit. I saw the person press the button to ignite the blasts. Then I saw a peddler and seven-year-old boy die."
No one claimed responsibility for that attack, but Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu described it as an assault against the entire nation.
In France, the year began with a deadly assault in Paris targeting the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Masked gunmen stormed the office, shooting dead 11 people and killing a police officer on the street before fleeing via car.
Five more people died in related attacks nearby as a Yemen branch of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
World leaders were quick to offer messages of condemnation for those behind the attacks and condolences to the French people, including United States president Barack Obama.
"For us to see the kind of cowardly, evil attacks that took place today, I think, reinforces once again why it's so important for us to stand in solidarity with them, just as they stand in solidarity with us."
It was not the last time world leaders would come together in solidarity with France in 2015.
In November, a series of coordinated attacks by gunmen associated with IS terrorised Paris as another 130 people died.
Diners at restaurants, concert-goers and people attending a football game were targeted.
Australian Emma Parkinson was shot while trying to escape gunmen who entered the Bataclan concert hall.
She later told the Nine Network of the terrifying ordeal.
"There was no one that didn't have blood on them. Everyone was covered. I'm just seeing people running as fast as they could. We were running down this street, and there was a building to the left with the door open. So me and a bunch of other people -- and I don't know how many -- we run into this building. And we're running up the stairs, and I was in the stairwell, and it just hit me, and I just grabbed the first person I saw and hugged them."
Westerners were also targeted in Tunisia, where three gunman launched a deadly attack at Tunis's Bardo museum in March, killing at least 21 people.
A few months later, a state of emergency was issued in the country after a beach massacre in Sousse that left 38 foreign tourists dead.
Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi said that attack represented a decisive moment for the nation.
(Translated) "I believe -- and I say it clearly -- if the events that happened in Sousse happen again, the country will collapse. And it is my duty as the president of the country to prevent this inevitability, which, God willing, won't happen."
Of great concern to leaders across the world, including in Australia, was the scourge of young people being lured by the message of groups like I-S.
In Parramatta in Sydney's west, in early October, 15-year-old Farhad Jabar shot dead a New South Wales police employee, Curtis Cheng, outside police heaquarters.
Assistant Multicultural Affairs Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said more funding needed to be directed at young people.
"I believe that the tragic Parramatta incident is a turning point, a crossroads moment. We need to deal with the reasons for the disengagement of young Australians."
An inquest also began into the 2014 siege at Sydney's Lindt Cafe, where gunman Man Haron Monis, cafe manager Tori Johnson and customer Katrina Dawson were killed.
Counsel Assisting, Jeremy Gormly, said it remains a complex task to determine the motivation behind the siege.
"However straightforward it may seem, it simply isn't. The bail story of Mr Monis is long and complex. The narrative has to be followed in some detail to see what happened."
Back overseas, on a far bigger scale, Boko Haram militants unleashed a reign of terror in Nigeria, starting with the town of Baga in January.
The United Nations human-rights office said it feared more than 2,000 people were slaughtered.
UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani expressed alarm on several fronts.
"While the exact details remain unclear, what appears fairly certain is that mass killings and mass forced displacement have occurred. The deliberate targeting of civilians is clearly prohibited by international law, and we are very concerned at reports that there were children and elderly people among the victims."
In Kenya, al-Shabab militants killed 147 people in an attack at Garissa University in April.
Heavily armed attackers singled out Christians to be shot as more than 500 students managed to escape.
A student described how it unfolded.
"We heard some gunshots, and we were sleeping, so it was around 5(am). And guys started jumping up and down and running for their lives, but it's unfortunate that, where they were going to is where the gunshots were coming from. So this meant the guys (had to) find some hide-outs in the field. So when we went there to the field, we sat there, and the gunshots continued. And this made us run to the fence so that we could get our way out from the school."
A tragic year of gun violence in the United States was punctuated when Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik shot dead 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
After the early December shooting, US president Barack Obama says everyone must work together in response to terrorist attacks.
"Just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalisation, it is the responsibility of all Americans of every faith to reject discrimination."
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