Legacy Thread

[basserdan]

ISIS to CAR BOMB Europe as it floods continent with fighters after losing territory
ISLAMIC State (ISIS) is poised to strike Europe with car bombs and lone wolf attacks as it is forced to evolve its tactics in response to losing territory in Middle East.

By Rebecca Flood
PUBLISHED: 10:13, Fri, Dec 2, 2016

VIDEO: ISIS Car Bomb Rams Tanks (1:22)

Citizens across the EU are increasingly the target for bloodthirsty jihadis, according to a report by Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC).

The UK is a key target alongside all countries participating in the anti-ISIS coalition, but France appears to have been singled out as a target of higher importance due to its links with the Muslim world.

As jihadis look increasingly to the West, it is estimated they will deploy more car bombs as their primary method of attack, similar to what they currently use in Syria and Iraq, as well as lone-wolf attackers.

The ECTC claimed the masterminds behind the Brussels and Paris attacks had initially planned to conceal explosives in a car to be detonated, but were forced to change their plans due to police operations.

Despite losing ground the group is still operational in 18 countries, including Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and in countries in the Caucasus.

The ECTC theorise specialist teams have been set up in Syria which then travel to Europe and carry out attacks over the past two years, with the ‘external terrorism network’ responsible for at least 10 deadly attacks in the West.

But training capabilities in the country are decreasing due to the coalition effort to smash ISIS, presenting new threats as fighters leave the Caliphate for Europe, referred to as the return of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs).

As their headquarters is destabilised the FTFs are coming back from conflict zones to the EU, continuing and extending their terror networks to carry out attacks.

Some pose as refugees, exploiting the migrant crisis to pass through the continent, with ISIS leaders having access to blank Syrian passports and skilled falsifiers.


The ECTC theorise specialist teams have been set up in Syria which then travel to Europe

The report said: “Those who are successful in entering the EU pose a threat in that they may want to continue their attempts to destabilise the West by committing terrorist attacks.

“Given that it is in the interests of IS to inflame the migration crisis to polarise the EU population and turn sections of it against those seeking asylum, there is a risk of some infiltration of refugee camps and other groups."

And along the migration routes, particularly through the Balkans, weapons such as automatic rifles are readily available on the black market, IS weapon of choice.

Automatic rifles - the preferred killing method - are used alongside the explosive material TATP, but knifes, axes and other readily available weapons are also being encouraged to be used.

These ‘lone-wolf’ fighters using whatever weapons they can lay their hands are a prevalent threat, as IS propaganda has succeeded in radicalising European nationals and persuading them to carry out random attacks.


ISIS fighters Europe bomb terror

IS propaganda has succeeded in radicalising European nationals

The report outline those who are at risk of becoming brainwashed, saying: “Jihadists committing terrorist acts in the EU can be described as a particular group of mainly young men who have a criminal past, are or feel discriminated, humiliated and marginalised in society, with some also having mental health issues, who are not strictly practising their Islam religion, but have radicalised in a very short period, either through intervention of recruiters or on their own, inspired by the narratives publicised by the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) on internet, and subsequently decide to travel to Syria or Iraq, or decide to become ‘a soldier of IS’ in their country of residence.

“There have been examples of 16 and 17-year olds who tried to act like Islamists rather than being Islamists, and had no sound knowledge of Islam.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/739042/ISIS-Islamic-State-Europe-UK-fighters-car-bomb-terror