One of the most notable trends in the past four years has been the increased threat posed by ‘lone wolf’ jihadists to Europe and America. This is according to the London-based consultancy Risk Advisory Group.
To mark the 50th edition of Risk Advisory’s Terrorism Tracker newsletter, the consultancy’s Intelligence and Analysis staff have identified their ten most significant terrorism trends since the publication began in September 2008.
Through English language propaganda like Inspire and even direct contact over the internet, Al-Qaeda and its affiliates have increasingly called on sympathisers in the West to mount ‘individual jihad’ attacks in their home countries with no training and limited guidance.
Since October 2010, Al-Qaeda followers have conducted at least 11 ‘lone wolf’ attacks in Western cities, while security forces have thwarted 13 others in the US. The majority of attacks have been relatively unsophisticated, but plotters have aspired to cause mass casualties. In December 2010, a suicide bomber attempted to kill scores of Christmas shoppers in Stockholm, while in March 2012 a self-proclaimed jihadist killed seven people in nine days in southern France.
Terrorists acting alone pose significant challenges to law enforcement officials in terms of detection and interdiction, who now regard lone wolves as one of the greatest security threats to the West.
Attacks on businesses have represented around 13 per cent of the total we have recorded worldwide. The most frequently targeted business sector has been retail followed by oil and gas, construction and tourism sectors.
Attacks on retail account for 23pc of all incidents, indicating that potentially crowded civilian areas remain a key target for terrorist groups. As the most accessible and vulnerable form of business in some areas, terrorist target retail outlets for extortion, to disrupt daily life and to prevent the sale of certain products or services they oppose.
The next most targeted sector has been oil and gas, with around a fifth of all incidents targeting business. The construction and financial sectors were targets in 11pc and 10pc of all cases respectively.
Pakistan is the most affected country in terms of attacks on business. Over the past year, Pakistan has the highest number of attacks against commercial interests, accounting for 15pc of attacks on businesses worldwide.
