Women Suspected To Attempt Next Terror Attack
Europe is preparing for its next Islamic State-inspired terror attack to be carried out by a female assassin after a string of arrests of radicalised young girls and women.
Fears of a new wave of female recruits have been growing in France since authorities made several arrests of women who had pledged allegiance to the globally known terror organization. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office two young women from the city of Nice were arrested in September, for suspected ties to the ISIS militant Rachid Kassim. The teenagers, aged 17 and 19, were being groomed to carry out an attack on “specific targets” in France in retaliation for the recent death of the Islamic State’s spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a source close to the investigation said.
The pair used their mobiles via the Telegram encrypted messaging system, which is a cloud based instant messaging system, to communicate with Kassim, who is suspected of having participated in several attacks or attempted attacks in France. Security experts have warned that authorities often turn a blind eye to women jihadis because they are not deemed to be a high risk. Writing in a report entitled Studies in Conflict and Terrorism: Countering Female Terrorism, Dr Karla Cunningham said female terrorism was “rarely acknowledged” because officials “fail to anticipate the emergency and range of female militant actors”.
According to express.co.uk, the French teenagers admitted considering the attack, before abandoning the idea. At least four other teenagers, all suspected of having plotted to kill in the name of the Islamic State, were arrested in about 10 days in early September by the General Directorate for Internal Security, a French intelligence agency, which spotted the suspects on social networks. All were in contact via Telegram with Kassim, who is currently located in the Syrian-Iraqi region, according to police sources.
US researchers recently found that female terrorists do a better job than men at maintaining networks and communicating with fellow operatives. Figures released by the UK government show that female terror arrests are on the rise in the UK. A record number of suspected female terrorists were detained by British police last year, amounting to 14 per cent of all arrests on terrorism charges.
