It could come from from Isis-K, the Islamic State of Khorasan, a significant threat to the Olympics that officially open tomorrow in Paris. And in particular, it could be the young people, maybe even “a thirteen year old”, that the jihadist group is counting on most because they are “less suspicious”. As we approach the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, in fact, What European security officials are noticing with concern is an increase in online recruitment of young people by the Islamic State, and in particular by Isis-K of Khorasan, through social media like TikTok. With the risk of a resumption of “direct” terrorist attacksaimed in particular at the Olympics.
According to Europol data cited by CNN, “the number of planned attacks has more than quadrupled” since 2022. Most of the people involved are young extremists, as Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King’s College London, points out, explaining that of the 58 arrested for the 27 foiled attacks or plots linked to ISIS since October, 38 were between the ages of 13 and 19. Two of those 27 plots involved teenagers with the aim of hitting the Olympics, Neumann explains.
ISIS would therefore entrust the new season of attacks to the very youngA British security source told CNN that the so-called “direct terror threat” has become a growing concern over the past 18 months, with a particular focus on ISIS-K and the role of young people. “Groups like Isis-K specifically target young teenagers”Neumann said. “They might not be very helpful. They might be wrong. They might change their minds,” but they are “less suspect. Who would think a thirteen year old is a terrorist? It only takes one“, he has declared.
At the end of May, French prosecutors charged an 18-year-old of Chechen origin with “criminal terrorist association”accused of trying to target spectators in Saint-Étienne during the Olympics, according to a statement from Lise Jaulin, spokeswoman for French anti-terrorism prosecutors. About two weeks earlier, a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old had been arrested in the north-east and south of France for planning a terrorist attack.. In April, a 16-year-old from the Haute-Savoie department in southeastern France was arrested after studying how to make an explosive belt and dying as a martyr for ISIS by targeting the Olympics.
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