News: Europe

Is the Islamic State still a threat to Europe? Fears of potential terrorist attacks in Europe were rife during the holiday period. But are these worries well founded?

(Euronews) After years spent in the shadows, the Islamic State (IS) terror group is back in the spotlight. European countries heightened security over the Christmas period, amid fears of terror attacks and violence linked to Israel’s war in Gaza. Last week, IS claimed responsibility […]

Christians

Cologne Cathedral attack: Austria issues warrant for suspect Austrian authorities want to speak to a man being held in connection with a year-end terrorist plot targeting Cologne Cathedral.

(Deutsche Welle) Austrian authorities have issued a European arrest warrant for a suspect detained in Germany over an alleged plot to attack the historic cathedral in Cologne, German police said on Sunday. On Christmas Eve, a 30-year-old Tajik national was held in the city of Wesel, […]

Government & Politics

Austria wants to tap Islamists’ messenger apps amid Europe terrorism fears Germany and Austria arrest a group of people from Tajikistan over warnings of a New Year's Eve attack

(National-UAE) Austria’s interior minister is calling for the security services to be given access to suspects’ messenger apps in an attempt to thwart terrorist attacks. [This] comes after five people from Tajikistan were arrested in Austria and Germany with European nations on […]

Christians

Warning of ‘increased risk’ of ISIS terror attacks across Europe on New Year’s Eve Experts say terror group remains a 'serious threat' as arrests made in Spain, Austria, France and Germany

(National-UAE) Security services across Europe have uncovered an ISIS plot to use explosives to target churches. Counter-terrorism experts say the group remains a “serious threat” and is taking advantage of the conflict in Gaza to motivate its supporters. Over the Christmas period, […]

News: Europe

‘Threat-board flashes red’ over Gaza radicalisation spilling into Europe Continued Israeli military operation is driving more people into the arms of extremists, experts tell the National

(National-UAE) Widespread terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists in Europe are a genuine prospect as a result of the mounting deaths in Gaza, security analysts have told the National. While increased state surveillance has made it difficult to mount spectacular attacks such as […]

Legal

Germany charges 2 Syrians with war crimes over IS ties Authorities accuse the two Syrians in German custody of membership in a terrorist group and having committed war crimes in Damascus a decade ago.

(Deutsche Welle) German prosecutors have charged two Syrian men with war crimes they are accused of having committed some 10 years ago in the Syrian capital Damascus, as part of the so-called Islamic State militant group. In line with German privacy rules, the […]

Law Enforcement

Morocco, Spain team up to arrest terror suspects in Nador, Melilla The arrests came less than a week after a similar joint Spanish-Moroccan counterterrorism operation.

(Morocco World News) The Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) and Spanish authorities carried out a joint counterterrorism operation, during which several terror suspects were arrested in Nador, Morocco’s Oriental region, and in the Spanish enclave of Melilla. The BCIJ arrested […]

Law Enforcement

Federal authorities arrest Westminster man, 18, who allegedly tried to join ISIS Humzah Mashkoor, 18, was arrested before boarding an international flight at the Denver International Airport, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado.

(KMGH) A Westminster 18-year-old who allegedly planned to join the Islamic State (ISIS) was arrested at the Denver International Airport Monday before boarding an international flight, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado. Humzah Mashkoor, 18, of Westminster […]

Books

Hugo Micheron: ‘The jihad has shifted from terrorist cells to families’ The French political scientist, an expert in Islamist extremism, cautions against becoming complacent about terrorism in Europe

(El País) Hugo Micheron, one of the brightest in a long line of French Arabists, recently published La colère et l’oubli (Anger and oblivion, in French), a history of European jihadism in which he explores a landscape still marked by ignorance and […]

Law Enforcement

Morocco, Spain dismantle terrorist support network Spanish authorities arrested five people in four different provinces, according to Spanish police.

(Morocco World News) Spanish police announced on Saturday that they dismantled a network that helped plan and finance the activities of ISIS members, in collaboration with Morocco’s General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST). Spanish authorities arrested five people in the provinces of […]

Children & Teens

UK repatriates one woman and five children from northeastern Syria The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the AANES have repeatedly urged foreign countries to repatriate their citizens stuck in Syria.

(Kurdistan 24) The Kurdish-led civilian Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)’s Foreign Relations Department announced on Tuesday that they recently handed over a woman and five children to a delegation from the United Kingdom. In a video statement read by […]

Children & Teens

Calgary youth suspected of terrorism activity to enter into 12-month peace bond As well as anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, the teen's material also included references to Black Lives Matter and showed a synagogue blowing up

(Calgary Herald) The Calgary teen who will be placed on a 12-month terrorism peace bond believed Sharia law dictated that gay people should be executed, court was told Monday. And among the materials found on the now-17-year-old’s electronic devices were videos of […]

Children & Teens

Austria arrests 16-year-old on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack The teenager was allegedly planning an attack against a synagogue in Vienna, authorities have said.

(Local) Austrian authorities have arrested a 16-year-old boy from Upper Austria on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against a synagogue in Vienna. The arrest was made last Thursday, December 7th, and the teenager is in custody. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) […]

Academics & Education

Sweden shuts down publicly funded school over jihad links The shutdown comes amid a longstanding debate on scrapping all faith-based schools in Sweden.

(European Conservative) Swedish authorities have shut down a school in Stockholm after the Swedish security police Säpo produced evidence that the students attending the school were at risk of becoming radicalised as several staff members have ties to jihadism. The Swedish Schools […]

Alcohol & Drugs

Lombard man pleads guilty to trafficking fentanyl and providing support to ISIS Jason Brown, 41, has been in custody since his 2019 arrest. He was accused of shipping fentanyl from California to the suburbs and sending money to the Islamic State of Iraq.

(Chicago Sun-Times) A suburban man pleaded guilty Wednesday to trafficking drugs and attempting to provide materials to the Islamic State of Iraq in 2019. Jason Brown, 41, was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, one count […]

Children & Teens

ISIS propaganda seducing ‘new generation of teenagers’: French domestic intel Security chief warns Islamist ideology is likely to exist for a very long time to come.

(Politico) A new generation of French teenagers is being wooed by the Islamic State terrorist group — infamous for its on-camera immolations of captives in Iraq — and seems ominously susceptible to the group’s propaganda, according to the head of France’s DGSI […]

Interfaith

Germany on guard against terrorism Against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and one-off attacks closer to home, German authorities are confronting a 'complex threat situation.' Some observers warn against exaggerating the danger.

(Deutsche Welle) A handful of isolated but high-profile incidents have put politically motivated crime high on Germany’s security agenda. The renewed fears follow a German tourist getting stabbed to death in Paris last weekend, allegedly by a man with a history of criminal […]