IN the final part of this article, I would like to dwell more on lone wolf attacks by extremist groups. Lone wolves will become the “new norm” for current and future terrorist attacks.
As proven in Auckland, New
Zealand, terrorist Ahamed Aathil Mohamed entered a supermarket, snatched a
knife from the shelf and stabbed seven individuals, critically injuring three
of them. With a simple plan and no expenses, the terrorist completed his
“mission” even though he knew he would die as a result of his crime.
Despite the fact that security
and intelligence officials knew Aathil was capable of committing a crime, they
were powerless to stop him on this occasion. That demonstrates how dangerous
the extremists are to the society.
In most circumstances, they
will act as a sleeper cell, and security agencies could only act once the
attacks have been carried out.
Lone wolves
Lone wolves are the term for
these terrorists. They are regarded a low-risk terrorist, supporter or
sympathiser because they have no obvious ties to any terror organisation.
Furthermore, they employ inferior and readily available weapons in their
attacks to ensure a high level of casualties.
They are regarded the less
significant terrorist in most situations, such as the Reading, Streatham, and
London bridge attacks, although their strikes can be devastating.
Unfortunately, there is no
universally agreed-upon definition for a lone wolf terrorist. According to
criminologist Joel A Capellan, there are two types of lone wolf terrorists.
The most visible are lone
wolves who are either not affiliated with any terrorist organisations or have
not gotten any aid from them. Typically, they radicalised themselves by
devising their own attack strategy.
The other type is connected to
certain terror network. While they may act alone, these individuals are
directed by a certain terrorist organisation. From the outset to the finish of
any terror act, the leader of a terrorist group will train these lone wolves by
offering all help and support.
But there are also two other
types; which is the lone wolf pack, where a group of people having become
self-radicalised. And finally, the lone attacker, who attacks alone, with the
direct backing and influence of a terror organisation.
Overall, this is an
unprecedented phenomenon. Finding a member of a sleeper cell or a lone wolf is
a challenge for our intelligence and security forces. Lone wolves are
distinguished by their independence.
They usually act without
direct supervision and through premeditated planning. They are also emotionally
disturbed and have weak interpersonal/social skills.
But according to Bruce
Hoffman, a senior fellow at the Combating Terrorism Centre at the United States
Military Academy, the lone wolf terrorist concept is not new. He also said that
lone wolf attacks are less violent than other types of terrorism.
However, he warned that the
growing number of lone wolf threats could overwhelm and divert intelligence and
law enforcement resources.
Clear and present danger
The rule of law is never
acknowledged or followed by terrorists or their organisations. They are vicious
individuals. Their only goal is to meet benchmarks and maintain their ideology.
Anything else won’t matter to them.
Terrorism takes on new forms
all the time and they use a variety of methods. They always seem to find a
small window of opportunity to carry out their deadly acts, such as in
Auckland, Nice, Paris, Brussels and London. The intelligence and security
services should act against these terrorist organisations.
These groups’ methods are
changing to include non-conventional weapons such as kitchen knives and
vehicles. Furthermore, they are deceiving security forces and the public by
wearing phony suicide vests to “protect” themselves.
They are effectively utilising
technology to their advantage, employing it to plan and execute their operation
while avoiding detection by intelligence agencies.
Lone wolves are difficult to
spot. In general, they look like any one of us and tend to keep a low profile,
to avoid exposing themselves to intelligence or security authorities.
Furthermore, our security
agencies are perplexed as to how to prevent lone wolf attacks. Therefore, the
public must take a proactive role by notifying these agencies if any of their
family members or friends are found acting “strangely”.
To confront this group’s
ideology, intelligence and security agencies must work with religious
authorities. They also need to build a powerful narrative against this ideology
by identifying what the religion’s genuine teachings are. Furthermore, they can
employ artificial intelligence (AI) to counter the terrorist groups’ propaganda
materials.
To summarise, the rise of the
Taliban and the unwillingness of international organisations like the United
Nations (UN) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to issue a
forceful statement condemning the Taliban’s atrocities sends a wrong message to
the world, particularly foreign terrorist groups.
Another “Sept 11 attack” is
unfathomable, and with the COVID-19 pandemic still active, another war on
terror is out of the question.
Therefore, all countries must
work together to push the current Taliban Government in Afghanistan to honour
the Doha Agreement, or risk economic sanctions, which will compel them to fulfil
their duties under the agreement. – Sept 13, 2021
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