’Daesh May Strike Europe with Car Bomb, Chemical Attacks’
Local Editor
Acknowledging that the terrorist threat in the EU has reached its peak in the last two decades, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator warned the bloc's lawmakers that Europe could face new Daesh-coordinated attacks, possibly even involving chemical weapons.
After a wave of bloody Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri "ISIS" group] terrorist attacks shook Europe in the summer, especially in France and Germany, Gilles de Kerchove warned members of the EU Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee that because of "multiplicity of the possible origins" of attacks, terrorism threat across the EU remains "very high."
De Kerchove said that "at least six reasons" exist for keeping the alert level at its highest level in the last 20 years.
To begin with, a large number of well-trained suicide bombers and lone wolf actors "that are directed or inspired" by Daesh are present in Europe.
The number of potential perpetrators is expanded further by "persons with mental health problems or who try to emulate" the perpetrators of the terrorist organization, the counter-terrorism chief warned.
He stressed the "link between terrorism and crime," noting that many EU attackers had a "criminal past."
Kererchove also confirmed that Daesh is "using the flow of migrants to infiltrate fighters, by using forged documents."
The intelligence boss warned that if Daesh faces further setbacks, more fighters from Syria and Iraq will flee to the EU, with some moving to Libya to continue their terrorist activity.
"How will we handle not hundreds but thousands of fighters who will either want to go to another hotspot - Libya is probably the most obvious one but there are many others where they can hide - or they may want to get back home?" Kerchove said.
"We will have to handle a high number and a diversity of profiles: the front-liners, people who have worked on the frontlines as fighters; people who have worked in the back office of the fight, but also wives of fighters and children. We know more than 500 children were born there," he said.
Another reason why terrorist threat grows in Europe is Daesh's mastery of online and social media propaganda channels which expands their recruitment drive.
In his address to EU lawmakers, Kerchove said that the latest trend shows that fewer Europeans are going to Syria, but more Europeans get "inspired" to join the wave of extremism on home soil.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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