(VOVworld) - The United States says a growing number of al-Qaida affiliates and other terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa pose a serious threat to US interests and allies. The warning comes as part of the State Department's annual report on global terrorism issued on Wednesday. In 2013, there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks across the globe, killing more than 17,800 people with most of these cases taking place in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.