Warning of further Islamic State attacks in Europe

‘Paris attacks show shift toward a broader strategy of IS going global’

Islamic State and other militants are very likely to attempt big new attacks in Europe following those in Paris, the EU’s police agency said, echoing previous warnings by senior security officials.

A report said further attacks could even take place quite soon.

The events in Paris “appear to indicate a shift toward a broader strategy of IS going global, of them specifically attacking France, but also the possibility of attacks against other member states of the EU in the near future”, it said.

There was “every reason to expect” an attack, by Islamic State or “IS-inspired terrorists or another religiously inspired terrorist group”.

“This is in addition to the threat of lone actor attacks, which has not diminished,” it said.

At a news conference to mark the launch of a new European Counter Terrorism Centre within Europol, based in The Hague, its director Rob Wainwright said Islamic State “has the willingness and capability to carry out further attacks in Europe”.

Since immediately after the Paris attacks on November 13, in which Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people, Wainwright, a senior British police officer, has said further similar attacks are likely in Europe and that “lone wolf” militants are no longer the prime threat.

The Europol report said Islamic State may have established an “external action command trained for special forces-style attacks in the international environment” and noted that, as the Paris attacks showed, the group was largely active in Europe through radicalised European citizens, not foreigners.

The report also warned of a risk of cyber attacks but said there was no evidence of Islamist militants trying to use chemical, biological, or nuclear material as a weapon in Europe.

Meanwhile, France will not allow threats to weaken its resolve against terrorism, president Francois Hollande has vowed.

He spoke out hours after Islamic State released a video showing the extremists who carried out the Paris attacks training, beheading, and shooting captives in territory controlled by the group.

He said that it was because of the threat that he is asking to keep France in a state of emergency.

Mr Hollande imposed the state of emergency just after the November attacks which left 130 dead in the capital, allowing border checks, warrantless searches, and house arrest without a court order.

The primarily French-language footage was apparently filmed in IS territory before the attackers slipped back into Europe.

The 17-minute video shows the extent of the planning that went into the multiple attacks in Paris, which French authorities have said from the beginning were organised in Syria.

The video was provided online by the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites and in it IS also threatens to attack Britain.