‘Huge risk’ of terror attacks across Europe over Christmas after Eiffel Tower bloodbath & foiled market attack, warns EU
EUROPE faces a “huge risk of terrorist attacks” this Christmas, a senior EU official has warned amid a spate of attacks including a deadly stabbing at the Eiffel Tower.
German-Filipino Collin, 24, was brutally killed by ISIS supporter Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, 26, on Saturday night in Paris.
The convicted terrorist allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” before murdering Collin and injuring a British man using a kitchen knife and a hammer.
Police said the French suspect comes from a non-religious Iranian family and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
He was previously imprisoned for planning a terror plot outside Paris.
The allegedly savage attack came after two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested by German authorities on suspicion of planning a militant Islamist attack on a Christmas market.
A 20-year-old Iraqi is now also in custody on suspicion of planning a knife attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Hannover.
European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said today: “With the war between Israel and Hamas, and the polarisation it causes in our society, with the upcoming holiday season, there is a huge risk of terrorist attacks in the European Union.
“We saw [it happening] recently in Paris, unfortunately we have seen it earlier as well.”
She provided no details to reporters about what exactly led to her dire warning, but it came after nearly two months of bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the terror group slaughtered 1,200 men, women, and children and dragged some 240 hostages to Gaza on October 7 in a series of surprise attacks.
Hamas released 105 women and children before a seven-day ceasefire deal collapsed on Friday.
About 160, including two children, are still being held in the enclave.
According to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, more than 15,200 Palestinians have died since Israel launched its retaliatory operations against the terrorist group.
The fallout from the bloody warfare has now spread to Europe, with tens of thousands of protesters staging rallies in support of both Palestine and Israel.
Johansson announced the European Commission will provide an additional €30million (£26million) to bolster security in vulnerable areas such as places of worship.
Meanwhile, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sent her condolences to France following the tragic bloodbath in Paris which she said highlighted “just how acute and how serious the threat posed by Islamist terrorism is currently in the EU.”
She added: “The war in Gaza and Hamas’ terror are exacerbating this situation.”
Faeser said she had spoken with her counterparts from Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, and Sweden about the perceived increased risk of terrorist attacks.
She continued: “Our security agencies are working very closely together.
“We must keep a particularly close eye on the Islamist threats right now and take action against Islamist propaganda together with neighbouring countries.”