New Data Shows Outsized Islamist Terrorist Threat in Europe
New Data Shows Outsized Islamist Terrorist Threat in Europe
IPT News Printed with Permission
Authorities in Denmark and Germany arrested 14 suspected Islamists earlier this month for plotting a terrorist attack, likely in Europe. The suspects, who include three Syrian brothers, are accused of acquiring firearms and several kilograms of chemicals used for manufacturing explosives, Denmark’s security and intelligence service said Friday. An Islamic State (ISIS) flag was also discovered in subsequent police searches.Like many parts of the world, European governments face numerous types of terrorist actors across the ideological spectrum. However, extremist Islamist activity continues to be Europe’s top terrorist threat.
Jihadist terrorism has “been much more lethal than other types of terrorism, accounting for nearly all recent fatalities and casualties,” finds a Feb. 10 U.S. Congressional Research Service report which examines Europol data on terrorist activity from 2014-2019.Attacks perpetrated by ethno-nationalist organizations or separatists were responsible for the most terrorist incidents. For example, nationalist/separatist groups carried out 508 attacks from 2014-2019, whereas jihadists and right-wing extremists perpetrated 110 and 22 attacks respectively. Jihadist-affiliated terrorists killed 374 people during this period, however, whereas nationalist/separatist terrorists caused six fatalities, and far-right terrorists killed two people.
The CRS report also shows that most arrests related to terrorist activity are tied to jihadist actors. In 2019, for example, 436 out of 1,004 terrorism-related arrests were linked to Islamist extremists. Security authorities across Europe devote considerable resources to combatting Islamist terrorist threats.
In the process, violent plots are often foiled or disrupted.Germany, for example, has foiled 17 jihadist terrorist attacks since 2009. One plot involved a couple that procured enough ricin for a biological attack that could have killed thousands of people. Last year, police conducted raids across the countryarresting multiple alleged Islamists suspected of planning major terrorist attacks.Following the most recent counterterrorism raids, Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that “our security services once again prevented an Islamist terror attack.
“It is unclear what extent ISIS played in planning the latest foiled attack. The organization is known to use the internet to connect with sympathisers and operatives to either inspire or formally direct international terrorist attacks.During ISIS’s rise in 2014-15, Europe experienced several high-casualtyattacks that were directly coordinated or inspired by ISIS.
It has been in a far weaker position to plan and execute high-profile attacks since losing its core territorial control in Syria and Iraq. However, extremist Islamist organizations, like ISIS, continue to maintain influence in Europe and inspire others to carry out attacks.On Thursday, German prosecutors charged a Syrian national for the October stabbing of two men in Dresden. The 20-year-old asylum seeker allegedly was motivated by extremist Islamist ideology and specifically targeted the pair because they were homosexual. The assailant carried out the attack days after being released from juvenile detention, after serving three years for allegedly planning a suicide bombing.
The stabbing attack also happened the same month that France experienced a particularly gruesome series of terrorist attacks, including the beheading of a teacher by a refugee of Chechen descent.
These attacks attracted significant headlines given their shocking nature.Like other foiled terrorist attempts, however, the recent plot disrupted by Danish and German authorities will receive far less attention.
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