The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant aka Islamic State, ISIS or IS has struck Europe once again. This time in Germany where a 17-year-old Afghan Refugee attacked passengers on a local train injuring nearly a dozen people with axe and knife. He was later gunned down by police.
AP
IS was quick to claim responsibility of the strike. Even though initially authorities doubted the claim, they later discovered a hand-drawn IS fag from his room, which could establish his links to the terror group.
If it turns out to be true, it will be yet another 'success' for IS's strategy for terror attacks in Europe.
Last year ISIS had laid out a plan for Europe for 'potential jihadists'- carry out lone wolf attacks.
This is exactly what is being played out across Europe now, be it in Germany or Nice last week.
Lone Wolf
The term "lone wolf" is used by US law enforcement agencies and the media to refer to individuals undertaking violent acts of terrorism outside a command structure.
ABC News
“One-third had have mental health problems and others had other stressors such as having lost their job. The ideology gives them a buffer from their other problems,” says Dr Paul Gill, an academic who has studied over 100 “lone actor” terrorists.
Why lone wolves are dangerous and effective?
Simply because a lone wolf is not acting on anyone else's order or instructions there won't be a group involved in planning and executing the attack. This makes them to a great extend immune to scrutiny by intelligence agencies. It also increases the chances of their "mission" being successful.
Reuters
Weapons
Normally a lone wolf attack involves one man-heavily armed. This makes his target, most likely scenario- a crowded public place - more accessible for them. Most of the times the attacker will be armed with an assault rifle, suicide weast or a sharp weapon. IS which earlier this year issued a handbook for potential lone wolves had urged them to use vehicle as weapons. The attack in Nice even though no clear link with IS have been established so far bears the signature of the outfit's direction all over it.
AP
Frequency
A study of 5,646 terrorist attacks around the world between 1968 and 2010 found that 72, or 1.3 percent of them, were committed by lone wolves. In recent decades, such attacks became more frequent in the U.S.
Reuters
The study was conducted before Islamic State leaders in 2014 began to urge followers to do whatever they could to kill citizens of nations fighting the group. A 2015 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice found that lone-wolf attacks in the U.S. became more common after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Challenges in preventing lone wolf attacks
As mentioned earlier the biggest challenge for intelligence agencies is to identify potential lone wolves and to infiltrate their groups. Since most of the time it is one person acting alone, there could be very few hints on someone is preparing for an attack.
Reuters
Only traces of them are most of the times their social media interactions. Also since they may not be buying weapons in huge amount this too, in most of the cases go unnoticed. The use of cars/ trucks as weapons only add to the their lethal capability to inflict damage as until recently it was unimaginable to see everyday vehicles as weapons.
Source:IndiaTimes
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