EuropoI: IS planning large-scale attacks in Europe

Islamic State and other militants are very likely to attempt big new attacks in Europe following those in Paris, the EU’s police agency said on Monday, echoing previous warnings by senior security officials.

Europol director Rob Wainwright made the concerning announcement during a news conference where he explained the terrorist organisation had increased their efforts in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.

“All national authorities are working to prevent that from happening”, he said.

Rob Wainwright, Europol director, said: “Our ambition is for the European Counter Terrorism Centre to become a central information hub in the fight against terrorism in the EU, providing analysis for ongoing investigations and contributing to a coordinated reaction in the event of major terrorist attacks”.

Two months after IS gunmen and suicide bombers attacked Paris nightspots, killing 130 people, the group published a 17-minute video showing four Belgians, three French citizens and two Iraqis all of whom took part in the assault and either died on the night, or in a subsequent police raid days later.

The European Union on Monday launched a new law enforcement centre to coordinate the fight against violent extremism, saying Europe faces the most significant terrorist threat in over 10 years.

It’s hard to say where and when the so-called Islamic State group could strike again, with threats of attacks in countries from Malaysia to Morocco so frequent and so wide-ranging.

Referring to the 70-nation coalition fighting IS, purported attack ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud warns that “the more you wage war against the Islamic State, the more it will expand… for we are terrorists”. “Both the November Paris attacks and the October 2015 bombing of a Russian airliner suggest a shift in IS strategy towards going global”, it said.

The report also said that the modus operandi in the Paris and Mumbai attacks were similar. The agency said: “It is possible that elements of the (Sunni Muslim) Syrian refugee diaspora in Europe may be vulnerable to radicalisation”.

‘There is no concrete evidence that terrorist travellers systematically use the flow of refugees to enter Europe unnoticed, ‘ it said.