‘Lone wolf’ attacks rising, hard to track, Europol warns

Europe is at major risk of so-called “lone-wolf” terror attacks, its policing agency says Wednesday, with the latest incidents showing “how difficult it is to detect and disrupt suspects.”

Recent incidents including Monday’s attack on a German train and last week’s carnage in Nice which left 84 people dead “remain a favored tactic by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda,” Europol says in a statement.

“Both groups have repeatedly called on Muslims living in western countries to perpetrate lone actor attacks in their countries of residence,” it says.

In the latest incident, the Islamic State group Tuesday released a video purportedly featuring a 17-year-old migrant who went on an axe rampage on a train at Wuerzburg in southern Germany, injuring five people, two critically.

“Although IS has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, none… seem to have been planned, logistically supported or executed directly by IS,” Europol says.

Despite the attackers’ pledges of allegiance to the IS group, “their actual involvement… cannot be established,” Europol says.

The Hague-based policing organization also released its 2015 “EU Terrorism and Trend Report” saying 151 people died and more than 350 others were injured in terror attacks last year in the 28-member bloc.

— AFP