ISIS to attack soft, random targets across Europe, warns Europol
Jihadist members of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, plan to carry out attacks on soft, indiscriminate targets in European countries on its hit list, reveals Europol's European Counter Terrorism Centre in a report published on Friday, Dec. 2.
According to the report published by the European Union's law enforcement agency, the Islamic State has shifted its focus from symbolic or high-profile targets such as the police or the military, as well as critical infrastructures such as power facilities and mass transportation hubs. Instead, it is eyeing unsuspecting recipients to intimidate the greater population.
"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," the report explains.
Intelligence from the Europe police also indicate countries that are members of the anti-ISIS coalition, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom, appear to be high on the Islamic State's hit list.
The report also highlights France as a prime target, as demonstrated in the high-profile acts of terror that the country has suffered over the past few years. In November 2015, the Islamic State staged a series of gun and bomb assaults across Paris, leaving 130 people killed and hundreds injured.
The Europol report offers several possible reasons for why France has been marked. One of this is the Islamic State's high regard for history and honor, and the group possibly holds a grudge against the country for the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the elimination of the Caliphate, the political-religious group that ruled over Muslim communities worldwide for centuries, after Word War 1.
"We have to be vigilant, since the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State and returning foreign fighters is likely to persist in the coming years," said EU counterterrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove said in a statement.
