Europe’s new terrorist organizations

Dr Mubarak Ahmed

Terrorist organizations staging attacks in Europe since Daesh promulgated its own state in Iraq and Syria in June 2014 point to the birth of a new type of terrorism, namely within-family terrorism. This is a type of terrorism committed by siblings and members of the same family.

It also discloses the emergence of new recruitment mechanisms within terrorist organizations. These mechanisms add to the challenges facing counterterrorism efforts.

Within-family radicalization recreates extremism and causes it to move on from one generation to another within the same families.

Within-family terrorism is not new though. Six of the 19 terrorists who staged the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington on the symbols of America’s economic and military might were siblings. The two terrorists who carried out the bombing of the Madrid train in March 2004 were siblings of Moroccan origin. Two American nationals of Chechen origin, namely Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, carried out the bombing of the annual Boston Marathon in April 2013.

Examples of within-family terrorism in Europe abound. The Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015 was staged by Cherif and Said Kouachi, two brothers of Algerian origin. The attack left 12 people dead and 11 others injured. French police killed the perpetrators of the attack two days later.

In August 2016, Bulgaria handed Cherif Kouachi’s brother-in-law, Mourad Hamyd, over to French authorities. He was accused of having links with a terrorist organization.

The two brothers, Brahim and Salah Abdeslam, participated in a series of attacks in Paris in November 2015. Brahim blew himself up inside a restaurant during the attacks. Salah managed to flee to Brussels, but was arrested in March 2016. Belgian authorities then handed him over to France to be tried in connection with the attacks.

Salah helped three suicide bombers move to Stade de France to carry out the attack which left 130 people dead.

In March 2016, Brussels was the scene of another terrorist attack that was carried out by the two brothers, Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui. The attack targeted Brussels International Airport and Maelbeek metro station. The attack left 34 people dead and 271 others injured.

Multiple reasons

A number of factors contributed to stoking within-family terrorism as a phenomenon in Europe. These factors include the following:

• Tightened supervision on recruitment methods

Some European states tightened supervision on social media as a means of recruitment for terrorist organizations, including Daesh. This terrorist organization succeeded in recruiting a large number of youth through social media. This was why terrorist organizations improvised within-family radicalization to ensure the presence of a human supply that helps them compensate the members they lose in the battlefield. Within family-radicalization was after all far from the eyes of the security establishment.

• Too many ghettos

A ghetto is an area or a slum occupied by a group of people who share the same beliefs, ethnic origins, or social conditions. Terrorist organizations active in Europe used social relations in recruiting new members, especially in ghettos or marginalized and poor areas. Ghettos are spread like a belt around rich suburbs. They are mostly occupied by the second and third generation of migrants. Most of the residents of these ghettos have failed in receiving enough education and could not integrate into European societies. This is why most of them are alienated within these societies. Ghettos are usually good environments for extremist ideas to take root and grow. Siblings form the terrorist nucleus and then these siblings draw in relatives, friends and residents in the same ghetto. This explains why complete terrorist cells are sometimes present in areas where there are conflicts in countries like Syria and Iraq. There are also sleeper cells made up of siblings in the same countries.

• Difficult to penetrate

Families are not easy to penetrate, which is why they are good terrorist incubators. Nobody outside the family circle can know what is happening inside this circle. This makes it difficult for security agencies to discover terrorist cells made up of siblings and family members.

• Easing recruitment

Family relations and friendship make recruitment a facile matter. This is one reason why extremist groups are keen on recruiting women. Women always have influence within families. Daesh did the same, which was why there were women everywhere in areas where it fought.

• Shared values

In most cases, family members and siblings share the same values. This makes it easy for siblings and family members to adopt the same views. The same siblings and family members usually defend the values they share ferociously. Psychologists believe that a sibling can easily influence his/her other siblings. Relations between siblings are usually based on obedience and coherence.

Conclusion

There is not a shred of doubt that within-family terrorism poses threats to security in the European Continent. This is especially so in the presence of exemplary incubators for this type of terrorism. Islamophobia contributes to the presence of these incubators. European governments also give the chance for terrorists to use the freedoms available in European states to advance their own interests.

Daesh returnees also pose danger to security in Europe. These returnees bring with them back home the radical ideals they learned in war zones and then pass them onto their family members and acquaintances. This is even more dangerous in the light of the policy followed by European governments to reintegrate Daesh returnees into their own societies.

There is a need for Europe to formulate a comprehensive vision for fighting within-family terrorism in it. This vision should be based on the development of marginalized and poor areas around the cities, bolstering citizenship rights and offering psychological support to families whose members are radicalized by terrorist groups.