Law Enforcement

Crypto-jihadist arrested in Barcelona

(Euro Weekly) In a significant breakthrough, the Guardia Civil has apprehended a crypto-jihadist in Barcelona as part of an international investigation into terrorist financing. A report published on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, revealed how events in Barcelona resulted in the culmination of […]

Government & Politics

MSS vigilant on radicalisation of youths despite low terror threat on Malta Malta registered a low threat of terror in 2022, but Malta Security Services says prevention of online radicalisation needs to be at the forefront of its terrorism preparedness

(Malta Today) Malta’s secret service, the MSS, said that while terrorism prevention is at the top of its agenda, its workload has been characterised by investigations against drug trafficking and illegal migration, as well as cyber-threats to critical infrastructure. Malta registered a […]

Law Enforcement

German court upholds ban on PKK symbols, pictures of its ringleader Regional court rules banning public display of images of Abdullah Ocalan, head of PKK terrorist group, is in line with laws, regulations

(Anadolu) Banning images of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed head of the PKK terrorist group, is in line with laws and regulations, a German regional court ruled on Monday. The Higher Administrative Court in North Rhine-Westphalia turned down a complaint filed by a […]

Internet

Lone wolf terrorists in Europe are not so lonely anymore — who is radicalising and recruiting them? Europol warns that lone actors will carry out the majority of terrorist attacks in the EU — with Islamist terrorism the biggest threat in Western Europe.

(Euronews) Just a week ago, Abdesalem Lassoued plunged the city of Brussels into chaos. Not even his wife or his closest friends knew that the Tunisian, who was in Belgium illegally, was about to commit an act of terrorism. After he shot […]

Internet

Europol director says Islamist terrorism remains the biggest terror threat to Western Europe Two deadly acts of terrorism confirmed in Western Europe in the last five days.

(ABC) With two deadly acts of terrorism confirmed in Western Europe in the last six days, the European Union’s top law enforcement official said she is worried about what might happen in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s […]

Law Enforcement

Europol: Vast majority of terrorist crimes motivated by jihadism Europol’s annual report states that of 380 people arrested across all 27 member states last year on suspicion of terror-related offenses, 266 people, or 70% of those arrested, were arrested for jihadist offenses.

(European Conservative) In its annual report on terrorism, Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, has revealed that radical Islamist terrorism for the third consecutive year remained the top security threat across the bloc in 2022, as the vast majority of individuals […]

Legal

Jihadist propaganda was shared by men facing terrorism charges Investigators say the seven defendants attended a breakaway mosque in Sta Venera and had shared Islamic extremist materials on Instagram and TikTok

(Malta Today) The compilation of evidence against the seven men arrested in April on terrorism-related charges began before Magistrate Nadine Lia on Monday. Ajil Al Muhsen (21), Adnan Maashi (21), Yazan Abduklaziz (26), Ahmed Kadas (25), Khalil Al Mahmoud (21), Ahmed Ahmed […]

Law Enforcement

Doubts on terror charges against Syrian youths The attorney general’s decision to file terrorism charges against a group of seven young people from Syria described as an over-reaction by sources within the police force

(Malta Today) The attorney general’s decision to file terrorism charges against a group of seven young people from Syria [has] been described as an over-reaction by sources within the police force. They told MaltaToday that the youths arrested last week in an […]

Law Enforcement

Morocco helps Spain arrest two terrorists in Barcelona, Austria The two detainees received military training and gained combat experience in Syria.

(Morocco World News) Morocco’s General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST) recently collaborated with Spanish authorities to arrest in Spain and Austria two foreign terrorist fighters believed to be members of a global jihadist organization. The two foreign terrorist fighters hold Moroccan nationality […]

Internet

Online platforms now have an hour to remove terrorist content in the EU If tech companies regularly fail to tackle terrorist content, they could face a fine of up to 4 percent of their global revenue.

(Politico) Facebook, Google and Twitter now have an hour to take down flagged terrorist content spreading on their platforms or risk fines of billions of euros. Passed in 2021, the EU’s terrorist content regulation enters into force Tuesday. It seeks to crack […]

Government & Politics

ISIS risk in Europe ‘significantly’ reduced, says EU counter-terrorism coordinator De Kerchove: Cooperation has reduced vulnerabilities

(Politico) Islamic State “no longer has the capacity to send terrorists onto European soil” thanks to “action taken by the international coalition,” the EU’s counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove told Le Monde in an interview published Saturday. However, he warned “the threat […]

Health & Medicine

Europol: Violent extremists take advantage of COVID-19 pandemic A new report on terrorist activity in the EU has highlighted the threat of online propaganda during the pandemic. The research shows Islamist and far-right extremists have posed the greatest threat.

(Deutsche Welle) The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the spread of violent ideologies, according to a new report published by the EU’s law enforcement agency Europol on Tuesday. The report highlighted the prominence of online propaganda in building communities and encouraging lone wolf […]