Islamic terrorism in Europe

[2] The first incidents of jihadist terrorism occurred in France in 1995 when a network with ties to Algeria carried out a string of bombings in Paris in retaliation for French involvement in the Algerian Civil War.

[12] In the early 2000s, much of this terrorist activity was linked to Al-Qaeda and the plots tended to involve groups carrying out co-ordinated bombings.

Many of these operatives were arrested, while others carried out unsophisticated attacks which caused little damage but still served to overload security services.

According to Europol's annual report released in 2017, the Islamic State exploited the flow of refugees and migrants to commit acts of terrorism, which was a feature of the 2015 Paris attacks.

Groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL had the intent and capabilities to mount mass casualty attacks with volunteers.

[14] The Counter Extremism Project states police investigations have found links between internet radicalization and terrorist attacks.

[16] In 2017, the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove stated in an interview that there were more than 50,000 radicals and jihadists in Europe.

[19] According to Lorenzo G. Vidino, jihadi terrorists in Europe mobilized by ISIL have tended to be second-generation immigrant Muslims.

Jihadists use ordinary crime as a way to finance their activity and have also argued this to be the "ideologically correct" way to wage 'jihad 'in 'lands of war'.

[22] According to German anthropologist Susanne Schröter, attacks in European countries in 2017 showed that the military defeat of the Islamic State did not mean the end of Islamist violence.

Schröter also compared the events in Europe to a jihadist strategy formulated in 2005 by Abu Musab al-Suri, where an intensification of terror would destabilise societies and encourage Muslim youth to revolt.

The expected civil war never materialised in Europe, but did occur in other regions such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and the Philippines (Battle of Marawi).

Five days later, on November 20 two truck bombs exploded at the British Consulate in Beyoğlu and at the HSBC General Directorate building in Beşiktaş.

[14] In 2017, a total of 62 people were killed in ten completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures.

[82] In 2018, a total of 13 people were killed and 46 were injured in seven completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures.

[124] In 2019, a total of ten people were killed in three completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures.

All completed and failed attacks except for one were carried out by perpetrators acting alone, whereas most of the foiled plots involved more than one person.

This is a list of plots which have been classified as terrorism by a law enforcement agency and/or for which at least one person has been convicted of planning one or more terrorist crimes with Islamist motives.

5 December 2016 In June 2020, Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf found the man's wife guilty of preparing a bombing alongside her husband in order to kill "infidels".

[208] According to Europol, the number of people arrested on suspicion of jihadist-related terrorist offences in the European Union increased from 395 in 2014 to 687 in 2015.

[82] During 2017, 352 verdicts on jihadi terrorism were delivered by courts in the EU, this was the vast majority of all terrorist convictions (569).