Islamic State has announced attacks during major sporting events in Europe this summer

And the greatest danger threatens the upcoming Olympic Games in Francethe main sporting event of the year, comes a warning from the New York-based Sufan Center, a non-governmental institution that deals with global analysis.

Serious warning

This should be taken seriously because the Islamic State planned to carry out an attack during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but it was prevented.

Intelligence agencies monitoring the Islamic State and its sympathizers are recording an increasing number of threats and announcements that suggest they are planning attacks in Europe. They should be taken seriously, not ignored, as the Russian authorities did, and in March IS terrorists killed 144 people who went to a concert in Moscow.

The Islamic State’s announcements that revenge against the “infidels” will soon follow were particularly intensified after October 7, when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis, and then Israel launched a revenge operation in which it has been targeting Hamas members for months, as well as tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, which causes anger and the desire for revenge in much of the Islamic world.

Islamists use this anger about Gaza towards the West in their propagandaemphasizing that the United States, France and other countries support Israel politically, financially and with weapons, and should be punished.

The danger of terrorism

A few days ago Thomas Haldenwangpresident of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence service, warned that they monitor Islamist groups and individuals for possible terrorist attacks.

Especially since two major sporting events are coming up this summer: the European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympic Games in Paris.

“And in that field, the level of threats is high. At the moment, although concrete plans for an attack are not known, the abstract danger is extremely high,” he added in an interview with Deutsche Welle. Haldenwang stated that especially The Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K), which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is advocating a large, spectacular attack.

“We can imagine various scenarios. One of the very dangerous ones is, for example, that teams of attackers come to Germany, maybe some have already come, and then carry out an attack as a group,” Haldenwang said.

Threats to organizers

From the Sufan Center they also reminded how it is The Islamic State of Khorasan sent threats to the organizers of the European Football Championship in Germany, the Olympic Games in France and the Champions League matches.

The pro-Islamic state newspaper Halumu also called on supporters to attack “stands and matches in stadiums”, and an Arabic-language poster encouraging the attack was posted online. at the Summer Olympics “with dynamite, explosives, molotov cocktails and knives”.

Earlier this week, French authorities announced the arrest of a 16-year-old boy who wrote yes on social media he wants to “die as a martyr” at the Olympic Games in Paris.

In addition, the photos released by IS-K suggest the best places to attack, which are the Emirates Stadium in London, where Arsenal plays, Madrid’s Metropolitano and Santiago Bernabeu stadiums (Atletico and Real) and the Parc des Princes in Paris (PSG) , even though the owners of the club are Arabs).

Numerous attacks

Perhaps nothing will happen, but analysts believe it would be foolish to ignore these threats. The Islamic State has already carried out numerous attacks at sporting events on several continents, with a particularly deadly one on November 13, 2015, when suicide bombers carried out multiple attacks at several different locations in Paris, killing 130 people and injuring 400.

In June 2016, two supporters of the Islamic State threw a grenade at the spectators of the European Championship match between Italy and Spain.

In April 2017, a suspected IS supporter in Germany detonated bombs near a bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund team, and in July 2018, IS sympathizers attacked foreign cyclists in Tajikistan.

On October 16, 2023, an IS member killed Swedish soccer fans in Brussels in retaliation for the burning of the Koran in Stockholm. The latest threats from the Islamic State will require significant security preparation and vigilance given IS’s proven ability to carry out its threats.

(Morning sheet)