After attacks in France and Belgium, expert Nicolas Stockhammer answers the most important questions: is Islamist terror now back?

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After the stabbing murder of a teacher in France on Friday and the murder of two Swedish football fans in Brussels on Monday, European countries are raising the level of terror alert. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (59) has called on his compatriots in Belgium to be vigilant. In Milan (I), police arrested two suspects on Tuesday who allegedly have close ties to Islamic State (IS).

Is terror back in Europe? Who are the Islamists targeting? Nicolas Stockhammer (48), scientific director of the research department Counter-Terrorism, Countering Violent Extremism and Intelligence at the Danube University Krems (A) and author of the book “Deceptive Calm”, answers the most pressing questions.

“Unfortunately, that is very possible. The current conflict situation in Israel, the consolidation of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Quran burnings in Sweden are having an inspiring effect on the Islamist scenes in Europe. Copycat attacks by copycats cannot be ruled out.”

“The role of Hamas and its pro-Palestinian constituency in Europe could incite militant Islamists to violence. Images of Palestinian civilian victims exploited for propaganda purposes have the potential to promote further radicalization in our part of the world. If the conflict in the Middle East continues to flare up, this will generally fuel the terrorist threat of jihadism across Europe.

“We currently assume low-level attacks by radicalized individual perpetrators or smaller cells. Scenarios involving cutting and stabbing weapons, rapid-fire rifles, but also improvised explosive devices are conceivable.”

“In my opinion, Jewish and Israeli targets and people are currently increasingly becoming the focus of jihadists’ attention. You must also protect the “supporters of Israel,” who have been targeted by extremists because of their sympathies and partisanship. But just as selective – as Brussels has shown – Swedish targets and people, most likely as a result of the Koran burnings. This assessment can be expanded and adapted to the situation as desired.”

“The focus is initially on larger European cities such as Brussels, Paris, London or Berlin, because the attention is very high here. However, jihadists have also repeatedly struck in smaller cities such as Würzburg (D), Ansbach (D) and Magnanville (F) when the attacker had a specific, local connection.

‘Radicalized individual perpetrators or smaller cells. Most attackers are young men, migrants from Muslim countries of origin – often well-known and well-connected – with a history of petty crime and a history of imprisonment. But here too, the profiles are not always identical.”

“Certainly. Because of the primacy of attention. And there is a very pronounced jihadist scene in Switzerland – keyword Winterthur. There was a cell there that was in close contact with the later Viennese attacker.”

«Through the 3 C’s: collaboration, coordination and communication. These three elements are an essential part of successful prevention.”

Source: Blick