We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
AS ISLAMIC STATE loses ground in the Middle East, it has mounted attacks in Europe to convince the world of its strength, experts say.
But Islamic State activity in Europe hasn’t all been recent; the terrorist group (also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh) has long had its sights set on Europe as a recruiting ground and target of attacks.
A map from the Institute for the Study of War tracks where the so-called Islamic State has hit, where its plots have been thwarted, where its supporters have been arrested, and where the group has targeted recruits.
The ISW notes that the group is “executing a campaign to terrorise and polarise Europe” and that the group has “inspired, resourced, and directed attempted and successful attacks in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Turkey since January 2014.”
“ISIS aims to punish countries acting against it in Iraq and Syria,” ISW notes. “It also seeks to polarise the West by inspiring state and social backlash against European Muslim communities. ISIS believes increased cultural strife will destabilise Europe and encourage Muslims to join it in Iraq and Syria.”
Islamic State has an extensive network of recruiters and supporters throughout Europe. These recruiters operate on social media and through in-person meetings to persuade Westerners to migrate to IS territory in Iraq and Syria. It also releases propaganda aimed at Western audiences to encourage supporters to attack Europe and the US even without any communication with core ISIS leaders.
These calls to action have resulted in several successful attacks.
Here’s a look at the map, which notes Islamic State-coordinated attacks, IS-inspired attacks, IS targets, IS-linked arrests, heightened threat levels, and sources of foreign fighters who move to IS territory:
The map shows the terrorist group has been particularly active with attacks in France and Turkey. France, Russia, Germany, and the UK serve as major sources of foreign fighters.
“ISIS will likely expand its efforts to direct and resource sophisticated terror attacks in Europe,” the ISW notes.
“ISIS used its high-ranking Belgian-Moroccan military commander Abdelhamid [Abaaoud] to coordinate multiple attack attempts in Belgium and France. ISIS may send similarly skilled individuals back to plan terror attacks there, or in other historic European jihadist systems, including Spain and Morocco, Italy and the Balkans, or the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden.
Interconnected human networks in each of these systems may capitalise on inadequate intelligence sharing across European borders in order to plan and conduct attacks.”
Authorities have thwarted several alleged attack plots in the UK, France, Germany, and Turkey. France in particular has been on high alert lately after IS-affiliated attackers killed 130 people and injured hundreds more as they took hostages, detonated suicide vests, and shot dozens across Paris in November.
- Pamela Engel.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Can’t wait to see what happens when they try and branch out in Crossmaglen…
Isis are rewriting to words to Irish rebel ballads as we speak.
Can’t wait to see how they are going to rework “Come out ye Black and Tans”.
The Derry air has been transformed to ‘Oh Mohammed boy”
“The Broad Black Turban” and “The boys of the Old Jihad” just don’t have the same ring to them.
Singing “Kevin Barry” is one thing but singing “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Hashimi al-Qurashi” is going to be a bit of a mouthful.
Muslims in the rare old times.
Dirty Auld Creed or the black velvet bomb.
“Here’s up the rebels, get back our oil wells” – doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
Only our oil fields run free.
And Kelly, the boy from Raqqa.
Sean South from Mesopotamia
Hilarious ha ha
To be fair I think that “Raqqa Rockall” might work.
Jihadi John to the road you’ve gone, far away from your native home.
Every man must stand behind, the men behind the Mullah
Ou ah up Allah … say ou ah up Allah! !!
Poor form its just a map showing where all the refugees have gone!!
The Fields of Allahroy
Sweet Mujahideen Malone ..
Who can forget old hits like Follow me up to Aleppo, The bold Jihadi Men, Come out you Infidels, Wrap the black flag around me, and The men we threw in the fire.
Tiocfaidh Allah?
All hits performed live by Foster and Allah.
The four green virgins
Thank God Frances Fitzgerald is in charge.
We can all sleep easy in our beds at night.
Tommy sometimes you can be so funny
That glazed look on her face is quite calming
yes…its very disturbing watching her on prime time.
“eh…eh…eh…eh”
No one on Irish t.v can speak without the ‘eh…eh…eh…’ – not even the news anchors.
The “eh eh eh” was one of the first things corrected by my first class primary school teacher when we used to have to read in front of the class. Although she was old school and used to do it with a ruler.. She really didn’t like being “eh’d” at.
What are the Irish authorities doing about the fighters that are coming back to Ireland from conflict zones. I was watching that programme on RTE2 the other night about Baz the lost Muslim and was very surprised to see his mate talk openly abut fighting with other Muslim groups against Gadaffi. Are the Irish authorities tracking these fighters, are they allowed back into Ireland even though we have know idea what crimes they committed or what groups they were fighting with?
that guy was quiet handy, he is not a coward i will give him that. i might be able to find something for your viewing.
I noticed with some surprise that there were no markers on Clonskeagh and Clanbrassil street on that map.
@Mise Eire what map?
https://youtu.be/qec5Mq4iSbg this is a news report from france24 featuring that guy in libya
Interesting watch. He talks about getting a free Libya yet he’s back in Ireland now while Isis are taking control of large parts of the country. Maybe he should go back out and fight them if his goal is a free Libya.
Very little I’m sure
yea its interesting, and i agree maybe he should go back and fight in libya, its a mess now, gadaffi was no loss, but what works in these places? democracy does not appear to work. the religion is political in nature, so that competes with freedoms and values we should all have. which is why we should be very careful about allowing loads of muslims into western countrys, they will vote for allah over enda. both create problems, but enda will f*** off eventually, allah seems to be eternal.
TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT! HE’S GOT THE BALLS TO SORT THEM ALL OUT!
Careful now
He makes Sarah Palin look smart
Down with that sort of thing haha
Trump will create more terrorists with his anti everything not white policy
Trump would be best to deal with ISIS for sure. Look how inept Obama has been clown is already retired.
GW Bush would be the best to deal with ISIS for sure. Look how well along with Cheney he got them up and running
Less than 100 in Ireland. It takes only one as Irish holiday makers found out during the summer.
This is the elite forcing multiculturalism on supposed sovereign nations. Do people think it’s an accident that radical jihad has somehow marched into Europe? This cannot happen unless it is allowed to happen. Make no mistake, when you hear EU bureaucrats and National leaders declare “we simply must help the refugees”, this really means bring in radical Jihad to seize more control and tighten their grip over us. These people do not have compassion. They are about power and control. They will soon have reason enough to declare marshal law across large parts of the continent, which is exactly the desired outcome. We need to leave the European Union immediately.
““ISIS used its high-ranking Belgian-Moroccan military commander Abdelhamid [Abaaoud] to coordinate multiple attack attempts in Belgium and France.”
Born and raised in Belgium. Belgium, the very centre of Europe, a recruiting ground for extremists.
Thanks for that…?
The journal fails to mention that institute for the study of war is a mouth piece for the “US MILITARY”and names dick cheneys daughter as one of its directors.
Also many of ISW’s major contributors and fundraisers include DynCorps International, CACI International, and General Dynamics—all military contractors who had active interests in the Invasion of Afghanistan .
I can confirm what Daithí has said above, the Institute of War is a pile of bollocks.
“Institute for the Promotion of War” would be a more apt name for this notorious, war-mongering tool of the US arms industry and bellicose Republicans.
Have you read the bio’s of the founders and fellows of the ISW? In the “our history” section it says “Dr. Kimberly Kagan founded ISW in May 2007,…….Frustrated with the prevailing lack of accurate information documenting developments on the ground in Iraq and the detrimental effect of biased reporting on policymakers, Dr. Kagan established ISW to provide real-time, independent, and open-source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks in Iraq. ”
In other words she was frustrated with the fact that the whole world doesn’t watch Fox News 24/7 and weren’t buying into the propaganda that they should be swallowing whole. I’ve read 2 of their “impartial” reports and one line in particular stands out.
“The apparently easy solution offered by Russia will nonetheless fail. Russia cannot actually deliver the results the U.S. requires in Syria. – See more at: http://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/myth-partnering-assad-russia-and-iran-against-isis#sthash.9q61xcma.dpuf
I’m pretty sure that the people in Syria couldn’t care less what the US wants and unless I’m mistaken it is the UN that called for action against IS and it is the Syrian government that asked Russia into Syria. This analysis is straight from the Cheney/Rumsfeld imperial playbook.
“The non-profit organization is supported by grants and contributions from large defense contractors including Raytheon, General Dynamics, DynCorp and others.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_the_Study_of_War
What does that matter? The data is either accurate or it is not so show us on the map where they are in error? Better yet take a course in logic.
What does that matter? …
LOL
Of course it matters who they are funded by. The source of any funding in any organisation that claims to report matters.
Though to some extent I agree that it’s far more important to know who funds in order to put context to a story rather than just dismissing it out of hand.
Europe’s fooked
At least we have Identity Crisis Ireland patrolling our border and seas, it helps me sleep at night, LOL!
Very poor journalism from The Journal here. Think you need to put this “report” into context or, better still, remove the entire article. It is completely irrelevant as news and just designed to stir up fear and resentment. But maybe you know that.
Hmm journal.ie totally partisan article from a very dubious source ‘Institute for the Study of War’
“The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a USA-based think tank founded in 2007 by Kimberly Kagan. She supported the surge in Iraq and has since advocated for an expanded and restructured American military campaign in Afghanistan. In 2009 she served on Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategic assessment team”
“Dr. Kagan also helped produce the documentary The Surge: the Untold Story with ISW Chairman, U.S Army General Jack Keane (ret.) and LTG James Dubik (ret.) describing the battle of Iraq and how the United States won the war.” LOL LOL
“According to ISW’s 2011annual report, its original supporters were mostly right-wing foundations, such as the Smith-Richardson Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, but it was later backed by national security contractors, including major ones like General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and CACI, as well as lesser-known firms such as DynCorp International, which provides training for Afghan police, and Palantir, a technology company founded with the backing of the CIA’s venture-capital arm, In-Q-Tel. Palantir supplies software to U.S. military intelligence in Afghanistan.
In her official bio at the ISW’s Web site, Kimberly Kagan touts her work “in Kabul for fifteen months in 2010 and 2011 as a ‘directed telescope’ to General David H. Petraeus and subsequently General John Allen, working on special projects for these commanders of the International Security Assistance Force”
slow say at the office or is the Journal getting into bed with the Neo Conservatives ?
What? They bypassed Israel, their sworn enemy?
Next stop Wickallah…
No sign of Shannon Airport on that map? Ohooo that’s right Joan said ” shushsssssssss!” And the plan seems to be working. I feel so inspired by our wonderful leaders right now. Lol.
Rendition was evil and then there is gitmo…
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Murder-at-Camp-Delta/Joseph-Hickman/9781451650792
Then this…
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=446_1438434917
Don’t worry, revenge is coming.
So you want WW3 then?
I’d be very worried living in Sweden, their stupid open ness policy has now created getthos in Gothenburg where the police have given up. 2nd highest rape crimes only to South Africa and IS are dropping in letters to people’s homes.
the divide and conquer game continues. people need to start waking up to this quick. the public is being played. governments are using the threat of terror to lock down on civil liberties, we are being told that this threat is coming in with migrants……….yet the powers that be are hell bent on forcing millions of migrants on european countries, destroying centuries of culture and heritage with it. the same politicans calling for this to be forced on the indigenous peoples also called for the wars and created the terrorist groups that created the refugees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70e0sa1QHTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9_JC2CEmVI
Down with that sort of thing I say!
careful now!
Typical media scaremongering. The gullible will fall for it, as always. #facepalm
Daesh exists in my view to racism and the Western way of life as can be seen with over the top consumerism and by reality TV shows like the X Factor etc.
The seed was planted with the invasion of Iraq as that accounted for a million deaths and for what, oil?
Anger always turns into evil giving enough time and Daesh are evil and all they have is hatred and those who are in it just allow evil men to tell what to do because these men get a kick out of controlling people. So their leaders are sociopaths and psychopaths, what type of sane person wants to kill another or let themselves be killed for people too scared to do anything except give out orders?
Terrorism? No. #cowardism Yes.
Terrardism?
Can we do something about people being radicalised now PLEASE
Rather sensationalist. When the Journal and other media outlets refer to “experts” like the Institute for the Study of War they should read the small print. In the words of the ISW they are “…committed to improving the nation’s ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic objectives.” In other words a mouthpiece of the US, they are neither interested in nor too concerned with “Europe”.
Western media scare mongering. Santa’s coming an that’s all that matters. Baby Jesus was born in a shed. Believe
Keep taking your meds. It will be over soon.
Europe aka Islamic State…
Knowing The Journal, this is something to celebrate
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say