Thaindian News

Syney, Dec 19 (IANS) Single individuals committing violent acts against society present “the most dangerous terrorism threat,” says US Homeland Security, because they operate alone, without using phones, photos or the net and hence are difficult to track.

The double terrorist attack which claimed 77 lives in Norway in July this year, is the latest example of the depredation wrought by a single terrorist or “lone wolf terrorism”.

Ramon Spaaij, from La Trobe University in Australia and the University of Amsterdam, has examined this so-far largely unexplored phenomenon.

“While lone wolf terrorism incidents still account for only a very small percentage of the total number of terrorist attacks, the number of lone wolf incidents has been on the rise in recent decades,” says Spaaij.

Indeed, Spaaij’s report shows that international security agencies now consider acts of terrorism carried out by individuals as one of the most likely forms of terrorist attacks.

Spaaij said: “Overall, a significant discrepancy exists between the recent political and media attention on lone wolf terrorism on the one hand, and scientific investigation of this phenomenon on the other. Systematic research projects into lone wolf terrorism have been few and far between.”

His report focuses on six key dimensions of lone wolf terrorism: its definition; where, how, and how frequently it occurs; what motivates lone wolf terrorists; radicalization and potential links with other terrorist networks or ideologies; how the acts are planned and carried out; and what lessons can be learned from government responses to these acts over the last 40 years.

-Indo-Asian News Service
St/rg/vt