Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or Jihadist terrorism) has been carried out in Europe by the jihadist groups Islamic State (ISIL) or Al-Qaeda as well as Islamist lone wolves since the late 20th century. Europol, which releases the annual EU Terrorism Situation and Trend report (TE-SAT), used the term "Islamist terrorism" in reports for the years 2006–2010, "religiously inspired terrorism" for the years 2011–2014, and has used "jihadist terrorism" since then.[1][a][2] Europol defines jihadism as "a violent ideology exploiting traditional Islamic concepts".[2]
In the 2000s, the deadliest attacks of this period were the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 193 civilians (the deadliest Islamist attack in Europe), and the 7 July 2005 London bombings, which killed 52.
After 2014, there was a rise in Islamic terrorist incidents in Europe.[3][4][5] The years 2014–16 saw more people killed by Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe than all previous years combined, and the highest rate of attack plots per year.[6] Most of this terrorist activity was inspired by ISIL,[6][7] and many European states have had some involvement in the military intervention against it. A number of plots involved people who entered or re-entered Europe as asylum seekers during the European migrant crisis,[7][8][9] and some attackers had returned to Europe after fighting in the Syrian civil war.[7] The Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting in May 2014 was the first attack in Europe by a returnee from the Syrian war.[10]
While most earlier Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe were carried out by groups and involved bombs, most attacks since 2014 have been carried out by individuals using guns, knives and vehicles.[6] The deadliest attacks of this period have been the November 2015 Paris attacks (130 killed). These attacks and threats have led to major security operations and plans such as Opération Sentinelle in France, Operation Vigilant Guardian and the Brussels lockdown in Belgium, and Operation Temperer in the United Kingdom.
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Gerningsmændene til angreb i Europa har i mange tilfælde været kendt af sikkerhedsmyndighederne i forvejen for at nære sympati for militant islamisme. Der har også været tilfælde, hvor personer gennemgik en meget hurtig radikalisering eller har haft psykiske eller andre personlige problemer. Siden efteråret 2015 har en række personer indrejst med flygtningestrømmen været involveret i angreb, herunder afviste asylansøgere.
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