Terrorist threat in the EU remains high despite the decline of IS in Iraq and Syria
In 2017, 68 innocent victims lost their lives as a result of terrorist attacks in the European Union (EU). Nine EU Member States reported a total of 205 foiled, failed and completed terrorist attacks in 2017 (2016: 142). This is a 45% increase compared to 2016 and a shift from a downward trend that started in 2014.
These attacks killed 68 victims and left 844 injured. Nearly all casualties (62) were the result of jihadist terrorist attacks. The number of jihadist terrorist attacks grew from 13 in 2016 to 33 in 2017.
Recent jihadist attacks were committed primarily by home-grown terrorists, radicalised without having travelled to join a terrorist group abroad. Among the highly diverse range of attackers, some were known to police, but not for terrorist activities, and most had no direct links to any jihadist organisation.
Even though the number of casualties decreased last year, the number of attacks on European soil did not. The number of jihadist-inspired attacks more than doubled. Europol’s 2018 EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT), published at the end of June 20188, provides a concise overview of the nature of the terrorist threat the EU faced in 2017.
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