Dr. Jassim Muhammad, in an exclusive interview with “Sky News Arabia”, expected that the curve of terrorism in Europe during 2022 would witness a decrease in the number of operations, compared to 2021, “these operations will remain limited like lone wolves.”
The challenge of countering extremism
Muhammad said that Europe succeeded to a large extent during the year 2021 in reducing terrorist attacks due to the security and intelligence policies and efforts pursued by European governments, working to bridge security gaps, deploying forces on the ground and responding quickly to deal with the neutralization of fighters, in addition to proactive moves by dismantling terrorist cells. .
Despite this, the head of the European Center believes that there is a great challenge for Europe in the new year related to combating extremism locally within the old continent, due to what he estimated as “a growth in the number of extremists in Europe and the spread of Salafi jihadism in particular.”
He explained: “Combating extremism in Europe needs deep intellectual treatments, resources and applications related to de-radicalization of foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq, noting that most of the returnees from the fighting still carry these ideas in a large proportion of them.”
Shortcomings in Integration Policies
He also noted what he described as a “relative shortcoming in the policies of European countries regarding the integration of Arab communities, as they do not give equal job opportunities to foreigners similar to the European citizen, especially in terms of advancement, job opportunities, and opportunities to obtain studies.”
In this regard, he called on European governments to communicate more with Al-Azhar, especially since Europe lacks an ideological understanding of Islamic texts and their interpretation.
Several recent reports and studies issued by European research centers have revealed the reinforcements and measures that the European continent intends to implement during the next year as part of a comprehensive confrontation with various extremist organizations, at the heart of which is the Muslim Brotherhood.
A previous study issued by the European Center for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Studies stated that the threat of extremist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, classified as terrorist in several countries, will remain a threat in various countries of the European continent, which means the importance of continuing to strengthen legislation and security and legal procedures to limit them and confront their spread in societies.
Relative shift in the center of terrorism
On the regional and international levels, Dr. Jassim Muhammad pointed out in a recent study titled (The Landscape of Terrorism Regionally and Internationally 2021: Challenges and Foresight Vision) to a relative shift in the center of gravity of terrorism and its organizations from the Middle East to Africa.
Which he attributed to the “shrinking” capabilities of the organization in the region at the level of human and financial resources, in parallel with the efforts of the international coalition to combat ISIS and the efforts of governments nationally.
The study said: “It appears that the weight of ISIS has shifted to Central, West and East Africa, and the African Sahel region, which is likely to carry out terrorist attacks during the coming period in those regions, which represents a challenge in the policies of combating terrorism and extremism.”
Hit and run is an alternative to spatial control
But the security expert also expects that the coming period will witness ISIS activity along the Iraqi border lines as well as along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, through hit-and-run operations, instead of spatial control, targeting columns and security headquarters, blocking roads and obtaining royalties from remote villages and centers. .
Muhammad also did not rule out the organization’s targeting of leaders and community leaders, while developing its capabilities towards training and sending terrorists outside Syria and Iraq, and continuing its communication with its lone wolves supporters in Europe to incite new attacks.
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