Europol said in a report: “There is every reason to expect that IS, IS-inspired terrorists or another religiously inspired terrorist group will undertake a terrorist attack somewhere in Europe again, but particularly in France, meant to cause mass casualties amongst the civilian population”.
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The report, ‘Changes in modus operandi of Islamic State terrorist attacks’, looked at the methods being used by Daesh and other Islamist terror groups.
“So-called Islamic State (Daish) has a willingness and a capability to carry out further attacks in Europe, and of course all national authorities are working to prevent that from happening”, he added.
Europe is now facing the most significant terrorist threat in over 10 years.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, called the initiative “a major strategic opportunity for the EU to make our collective efforts to fight terrorism more effective”.
The report coincided with the official opening of the European Counter Terrorism Center.
One of the main tasks of the new Europol counter-terrorism centre was to collect details on the estimated 5,000 Europeans who have gone to fight with Daish in Syria and Iraq, Wainwright said.
The new European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC), officially launched on Monday in Amsterdam, will focus on fighting foreign fighters, sharing intelligence and expertise on terrorism financing, online terrorist propaganda and illegal arms trafficking, Europol announced.
“The ECTC will enhance operational coordination and information-sharing between law enforcement agencies”, said the Dutch Minister of Security and Justice, Ard van der Steur, at the start of the meeting. Europol is grateful for the support of the Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission in the establishment of the ECTC.
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The center’s experts will address criminal intelligence and organized crime, as well as offering the security services of member states assistance in investigating terrorist attacks and in coordinating cross-border special operations targeting terrorist suspects. ISIS, which is also known as the Islamic State, IS, ISIL, or Daesh, claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed 130 people across the city.
