|
Europol warns of new IS terror threats to Europe
[IsraelTimes] EU agency is currently assisting more than 50 counterterrorism investigations across the continent.
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group could launch fresh attacks in Europe in the near future, and the agency’s director said police forces across the continent are investigating more than 50 terrorism cases. Europol -- the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s police agency -- said in a grim analysis of IS tactics published Friday that EU countries participating in the US-led coalition fighting the krazed killer group in Syria and Iraq are most at risk. La Belle France and Belgium are among the European nations that have joined the US-led coalition. Others include Britannia, the Netherlands and Denmark. Germany’s military also is involved, but not in combat operations. Europol director Rob Wainwright said in an interview that counterterrorism agencies are tackling the threat from IS in cooperation with his Hague-based agency. Europol currently is assisting more than 50 terror investigations by national agencies across the continent, he said. "That says something about the level of the threat, but also about the level of interconnectedness amongst the counterterrorist community here," Wainwright told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named at Europol’s headquarters. In the report released Friday, Europol said boom-mobiles and other tactics the Islamic State group uses in Iraq and Syria could also be deployed in Europe. It said past attacks such as those in La Belle France and Belgium over the last two years show that Lions of Islam acting in the name of IS can effectively plan complex attacks. "Estimates from some intelligence services indicate several dozen people directed by IS may be currently present in Europe with a capability to commit terrorist attacks," according to the report, which draws on counterterrorism intelligence from around Europe as well as media reports and previously publicized calls by IS leaders for attacks. Despite the warnings, Wainwright expressed optimism that the counterterrorism efforts will likely, over the long term, rein in the threat posed by Islamic State. "We’re not there yet. I think we will get there. It might be replaced in the future, of course, by another iteration in the international terrorist scene," he said. "So it doesn’t have to be the new normal, but we have to take the right measures, right now, to protect our citizens from the kind of atrocities that unfortunately we’ve suffered in the last two years." Community leaders also have a role to play in diminishing the threat from IS recruiters and trainers who prey on marginalized youths -- some of whom may have mental health problems or backgrounds in petty crime -- and incite them to carry out attacks, Wainwright said. "We have to work in the community with faith leaders, with parents, with teachers to try and make sure that these young impressionable minds are not turned so easily," he said. The Europol report noted a shift in IS attacks from symbolic targets like coppers and military personnel to indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets, such as the attacks a year ago in Gay Paree at a rock concert, the national stadium and bustling sidewalk cafes. "Indiscriminate attacks have a very powerful effect on the public in general, which is one of the main goals of terrorism: to seriously intimidate a population," according to the report, which concludes the focus on so-called soft targets means that attacking critical infrastructure like power grids and nuclear facilities is "currently not a priority." Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber... a police raid in Morocco in February may have thwarted a possible chemical or biological weapons attack by an IS cell, raising the specter that such weapons also could be used in Europe. The report noted, however, that automatic firearms, knives and vehicles are more easily available and that "the effectiveness, ease of use and access of these weapons will continue to be relevant." The consensus among intelligence agencies in EU member states is that "the cyber capabilities of terrorist groups are still relatively low," Europol’s report said. But the document’s authors added that "the possibility of terrorist-affiliated cyber groups engaging in cyber warfare sponsored by Nation States -- those with capacities to engage in this type of attacks -- should not be discounted."
Since the armed revolt five years ago that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the North African country has been plagued by violence and political instability. "Experts expect that IS will start planning and dispatching attacks from Libya if the current phase, in which they are primarily focused on taking territory and dispatching of local enemies, comes to an end." Europe's security services arrested 667 suspects for suspected Islamist militant activities in 2015, the report added. Posted by: trailing wife 2016-12-03 |
||
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=474767 |