“They organize networks” –

The terrorist attack in Moscow has plunged the West back into terror. An armed commando reached the Crocus City Hall when the spectators were ready to attend the show of Picnic, a very popular rock band, and opened fire, killing those present indiscriminately. The greatest terrorist threat against Germany and the whole of Western Europe is once again represented by jihadist groups. Peter Neumann, a German political scientist and expert on terrorism, is convinced of this: “Since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October – he declared speaking today with Deutschlandfunk – there has been an enormous mobilization of Islamists and jihadists throughout Western Europe” .

In Germany alone, he underlined, three or four attacks were foiled. In particular, added the political scientist, IS-K is aiming to carry out very aggressive and large-scale attacks in non-Muslim countries, some of which are in Western Europe. For Neumann, the difficulty for policymakers is finding the balance between warning the population about a danger that exists and not scaring them unless necessary. “I believe – he added – that the federal government is managing the matter quite well”.

Neumann then recalled the two plans thwarted recently in Germany, with the arrest in Thuringia of two suspects who wanted to carry out an attack in Sweden and with the extraordinary security plan launched between Christmas and New Year around the Cologne Cathedral. Attack plans are increasingly frequent, he underlined, citing Interpol data: since October, there have been eight attempted attacks in Europe compared to the six foiled in the whole of 2022. There is also a change in the modus operandi of the terrorists: in recent years these have often been IS supporters consuming propaganda on the Internet and acting on their own initiative. “However, IS-K is a fairly professional group, capable of organizing networks,” and this makes the threat even stronger.