Islamic Terrorism

Adrian Rojas
January 1, 2019

1 Islamic Terrorism and a Brief History

Terrorism based in the Islamic faith is the most prevalent terrorism in modern history, with
the majority of the world falling victim to violence from organized terror groups. Yet,
the case of Islamic terror is unique, it was birthed thanks to influence from repeated foreign
intervention and conducts international terror at a greater rate than any terror group and/or
ideology than has ever been seen in history. Yet, its ideology and core motivations are
relatively simple, but has evolved over the course of 30 years to become more radical. The
radicalization has included the complete domination of the world to establish a complete
Islamic state under Sharia Law.
The middle east has been hotbed of terrorism since the first invasion of Afghanistan by
the Soviet Union in the 1980’s. Following the successful push back of the soviets by the
the mujahideen, insurgency groups formed in order to preserve Islamic states from western
influence and to push for the destruction of the state of Israel. The most influential terrorist
group, Al-Qaeda, was conceived by Osama Bin-Laden in 1988, formed from the successful
push back of Soviet forces, the mujahideen now armed with weaponry from the United
States formed to protect the Islamic world. Their first test came during the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait, Al-Qeada offered protection to Saudi Arabia but were declined in order to allow the
United States to deploy troops and set up bases to counter the Iraqi aggression. Angered by
the United States presence in Saudi Arabia, Osama’s former home, and influence of western
society on the Islamic world, Al-Qaeda have been responsible for most of the terror attacks
from 1996 to 2011 when the Islamic State took over as the biggest perpetrator of terror
worldwide. The Islamic state (IS or ISIS) came in the mix and capitalized on the chaos from
the wars and the Arab Spring in Egypt and Syria.
Islamic State in Iraq uses the civil war in Syria to gain power and supporters and as a
result control a large portion of eastern Syria. ISIS with its increased support and military
equipment launched a full out invasion of Iraq from Syria. To the surprise of many they
were not met with much resistance as many of Iraq’s military forces, not willing to die for a
government that they felt did not care for them, simply put down their weapons, shed their
uniforms and ran. With such small resistance ISIS was able capture much of the military
equipment the United States had left for the Iraqi government. In a very short amount of
time ISIS was in control of about one third of the whole country. ISIS, in an attempt to
send out its message to the United States and Europe, murdered US reporter James Foley
on camera sparking outrage across the world. Angered by the murder of James Foley, the

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United States leads bombing campaigns to eliminate ISIS targets, as a result ISIS loses about
a fourth of its controlled territory.
Yet, ISIS had launched an international war with the west, sending operatives to Europe
and inspiring home grown terrorist with an online campaign to radicalize disgruntled youth.
This led to lone wolf terror attacks in the United States and Europe. ISIS has since lost its
footing militarily on the ground in Syria and Iraq and socially internationally.

2 Motives of Islamic Terrorism

While Islamic terror is not a new phenomenon but has experienced a recent increase in the
past decades. Groups, as the name implies, follow a version of the Islamic religion, typically
following an extremist interpretation of Islam which is not representative of the religion
as a whole. Islamic terrorist groups are generally focused on a specific goals, usually the
eradication of neighboring religions or neighboring nations.
First major objective of Islamic terrorist groups is the eradication of the nation of Israel.
Following the second world war the Jewish Agency, under recommendation of the United
Nations 1947 Partition of Palestine, declared its independence which created the nation of
Israel. However, the neighboring countries did not take too kindly to the establishment of
the new nation, numerous wars have been fought by the between the nation of Israel and
surrounding Arab nations. To this day, many of the nations surrounding Israel actively ad-
vocate its destruction. As such, many terrorist groups have sprung up, most state sponsored,
with the sole intention to bring destruction to Israel (Bar, 2004).
The secondary objective of Islamic terrorist groups is the eradication western nations and
rejection of western values. This sentiment has increased in recent years thanks to the 2001
invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and allies but had
been around as far back as the 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Barros, Proença, 2004).
The direct goal of these groups are to drive US and allied forces out of the middle east,
as such many of their attacks are aimed at military tactics using guerrilla warfare. Rarely,
these groups are responsible for terror attacks perpetrated in western nations. Usually these
attacks are followed by a statement, claiming responsibility and demanding allied forces
leave the middle east. Contrary to the western philosophy of separation of church and state,
Islamic fundamentalist actively want to integrate religion and government thus fueling the
hatred of western society further (Bar, 2004).
Most attacks in western nations are perpetrated by domestic actors radicalized in western
nations. Usually in modern history troubled youths have been the main targets for radical-
ization due to their impressionable demeanor. When youths are sent to prison for petty crime
in the Europe, they are being exposed to more radical sub-sects. In prison is where many of
the youths develop connections and an extremist ideology (Kelly, 2012; Cuthbertson, 2004).
Attacks perpetrated by terrorist who come from or are born middle eastern nations are
also possible due to the geographic positioning. This has been possible in recent times due
to ordinary travel, illegal means such as smuggling, or blending in during migration due to
war.

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3 Islamic Terror within Europe
3.1 Bombings
Within Europe, bombings by Islamic terrorist is a rarity but the results end with a high
amount of causalities, including the perpetrator themselves. Most bombings tend to be
suicide missions, thus showing the devotion the supporters of Islamic terror are. Attacks
such as the December 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, July 2005 London Bombings, January 2016
Istanbul bombings, March 2016 Brussels Bombings, June 2016 Atatürk Airport attack, and
the May 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. These 6 attacks have collectively killed 455 people
and injured more than 2227, justly making bombing the most destructive terror method used
in Europe.
It is interesting to note that all of these attacks happened in very population social
locations or in mass transit, as can be expected, coordinating a bombing attack requires
more planning and skill to carry out. Yet, the materials used to manufacture these devices
can usually be acquired through ordinary means such as a hardware store, or common
household products, such as pressure cookers. Due to the rigorous planning and trails which
can be detected with bomb attacks, most of the plots are discovered and prevented by
law enforcement. The information about construction about these bombs is acquired from
oversees visits to nations in which terror networks are established or by online transmission
of pamphlets.
The Lockerbie Bombing or the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing brought to the table many
new challenges about counter-terrorism and international relations. Pan Am Flight 103
originated in West Germany for a final destination of Detroit, the bombing of this flight
was meant to kill as many Americans and westerners as possible. The intended target, the
flight, also struck an unintended target, that being the city of Lockerbie in Scotland. Once
the plane was bombed and fell out of the sky, the plane crashed into an urban neighborhood
killing 11 people within their houses and causing terrible damages to surrounding structures.
After a 3 year investigation, American and Scottish authorities found the attacker to be
of Libyan dissent, not only that but members of the Libyan intelligence agencies. Then
Dictator Muammar Gaddafi admitted responsibility for the attack, thanks to pressure from
the international community and pressure from the tough economic sanctions. Submitted
was Abdelbaset al-Megrahi as the one responsible for perpetrating the attack, allegedly not
under the order of Gaddafi, al-Megrahi was convicted of 270 counts of murder in 2001. In
2009, al-Megrahi was released from Scottish prison due to prostate cancer to return to Libya
where he died on May 2012.
The Manchester bombing brings up a question not often discussed, about security within
hard targets. Hard targets being defined as locations with increased security with limitations
as to what can be brought into venue. These locations include concert halls, sports venues,
airports, court buildings, etc... and while the interior of the event is presumed to be secure,
the exterior just outside the security checkpoint is not. The soft target then becomes the
primary target as the same people inside the event are going to be outside of the event, if
specific targets had been chosen. The Manchester arena bombing had happened outside the
venue, near the turnstiles used for entry and exit, at the time of the bombing, the area had
been filled with parents and children leaving the Adriana Grande concert, being outside of

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 Table 1: Top Islamic Terrorist attacks involving the use of bombs.
Date Country Name Fatalities Non-fatal Suicide Sponsor
Injuries
December Scotland Lockerbie 270 0 No Libya
1988 Bombing
July 2005 Britain London 56 784 Yes al-Qaeda
Bombings
January Turkey Istanbul 14 9 Yes ISIS
2016 Bombing
March Belgium Brussels 35 340 Yes except ISIS
2016 Bombings 1 Attacker
June Turkey Atatürk 41 230 Yes ISIS
2016 Airport
Attacks
April Russia St. Peters- 16 64 Yes ISIS
2017 berg Metro
bombing
May 2017 Britain Manchester 23 800+ Yes ISIS
Arena
Bombing

the security point the extra security had no effect.

3.2 Stabbings
Stabbings are perhaps the most prevalent type of attacks in Europe due to the easy acces-
sibility of knifes. The easy accessibility comes at the cost of high casualty counts for terror
groups due to the decreased overall lethality of stab wounds and the difficulty of stabbing
numerous people in quick succession. These attacks are usually not planned extensively and
are done by lone actors or in very small groups.
To begin with, the Hanover stabbing in 2016 was the first ISIS led terror attack in
Germany. German police approached a 15 year female old to ask for identification, in
response the female stabbed one of the police officers in the back of the neck, the female was
then arrested, other weapons were found on her person. Throughout the investigation it was
found she has attempted to visit Syria in order to form a connection with the Islamic State.
Authorities suspect she may have been order to carry out the attack.
It is interesting to note that stabbing attacks overwhelmingly target law enforcement
relative to other forms of attack, all except the Würzburg Train Attack involve the injury
or killing of a law enforcement officer, with all except London Bridge Stabbing targeting
the police explicitly. Police officers are not soft targets, usually police are armed with guns,
knives, pepper spray, batons and/or tazers, meaning a police officer is more likely to offer
resistance to an attack. Attacking police officers can also be seen as a suicide attack, while
not inherent attacking a police officer will prompt lethal force, this is seen in most stabbing

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 Table 2: Stabbing attacks in Europe.
Date Country Name Fatalities Non-fatal Attacker Claimant
Injuries
February Germany Hanover 0 1 Arrested; 6 ISIS
2016 Stabbing years
July 2016 Germany Würzburg 1 5 Shot Dead ISIS
Train
Attack
August Russia Shchelkovo 3 1 Shot Dead ISIS
2016 Highway
Police
Station
Attack
June Britain London 11 48 Shot Dead ISIS
2017 Bridge
Stabbing
May 2018 France Paris Knife 2 4 Shot Dead ISIS
Attack
May 2018 Belgium Liège 4 4 Shot Dead ISIS
Attack

attacks, including in the United Kingdom where regular on the beat officers are not typically
armed with firearms. This brand of suicide attack can serve as a martyrdom for Islamic
extremism within Arab communities in western nations.

3.3 Shootings and Vehicular Attacks

Shootings in Europe are rare due to the difficulty associated with procuring firearms in
certain European nations. Due to the difficult nature of firearms procurement, attacks done
with firearms are done will large amounts of planning and usually incorporate other methods
of attack, in most cases with bombs. To being with, the Charlie Hebdo shootings were a
major influence on the negative perception of Islamic terrorism within Europe due to the
context by which the attack was rationalized with. While not directly in contact with other
major terror organizations, Chérif and Saı̈d Kouachi waged a premeditated attack against
the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, in conjunction with other attacks across the nation,
to censor the magazine due to previous drawings of the prophet Mohammad. In doing so
they killed 12 people including 11 injured, the brothers were capable of escaping but were
ultimately shot and killed in Dammartin-en-Goële, France.
That same year France was attacked again but from sponsorship of another group, the
Islamic State in Syria and Iraq orchestrated the attack in retaliation for French airstrikes
is Syria and Iraq. Most of the attackers had French or Belgian citizenship but had become
radicalized by fighting in Iraq. Smuggling weapons from eastern Europe, the attackers,
armed with Zastava M70 assault rifles and suicide belts, first targeted the Stade de France.

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 Table 3: Shooting and Vehicular attacks in Europe.
Date Country Name Fatalities Non-fatal Attacker Claimant
Injuries
January France Charlie 12 11 Shot Dead Inspired by
2015 Hebdo AQAP
shoot-
ing
November France Paris 137 413 Shot & ISIS
2015 Attacks Suicide
(Shoot-
ing)
January Turkey Istanbul 39 70 Arrested ISIS
2017 Night-
club
Shoot-
ing
July 2016 France Nice At- 87 434 Shot Dead Inspired by
tacks ISIS
December Germany Berlin 12 56 Shot Dead ISIS
2016 Market
Attack
April Sweden Stockholm 5 14 Arrested ISIS
2017 Attack
August Spain Barcelona 24 152 8 Shot Suspected
2017 Attack Dead & 4 ISIS Inspi-
Arrested ration

3 suicide bombers attacked near the entrances of the stadium, where the president of France
had been attending, the suicide attacks only killed one other person. After which the a series
of cars performed drive by shootings on many popular restaurants around Paris until a group
of three attackers entered the Bataclan theatre and opened fire on the crowd killing about
88 people, after the shooting had subsitded, the police attempted to rescue the hostages,
where one attacker was shot and then detonated his suicide vest, the other two attackers
would then do the same killing 2 additional people.
Yet, the terror networks had begun to utilize an easier method to inflict mass causalities,
that was using vehicles as projectiles. The most deadly of which was the France Nice truck
attack perpetrated by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel a Tunsian French citizen. Armed with
a pistol and several non-operational replica rifles, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel utilizing a Renault
Midlum cargo truck, ran into the pedestrian walkways under the guise of a driver in distress,
at the Bastille day firework display. In doing so, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel killed upwards
of 87 people until the police killed him.

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4 Islamic Terror within the United States
The United States has a ocean protecting it from rampant attacks from foreign sources,
not surprisingly the majority of the attacks are homegrown, including those from foreign
influence. However, for Islamic terror, with the exception of the Fort Hood Shooting and
the Orlando Night Club shooting, all the terror perpetrators were foreign citizens prior to
their inclusion into American society, although their locations vary drastically, whether it be
Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, etc...
Although, the United States has experienced the most deadly terror attack in modern
history, the September 11 attacks were a relatively high technology attack which killed almost
3 thousand people in little over 3 hours. However, due to the complexity of the attack, it
led the government to enact certain laws to curtail future attacks. Most notability was the
Patriot act which expanded surveillance abilities, expediting investigation procedures, and
expanding punishments for terrorist activities. The September 11 attacks also allowed for
the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and combating terrorism would be motivations for the
intervention in Syria and Libya. Despite the increase of surveillance and counter terrorism
tactics, lone wolf attacks would be very difficult to prevent even if premeditated.
The September 11 attacks also had a massive effect on the American public socially;
Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs and every groups perceived to be from the middle east. Racially and
hatred driven attacks against these groups was not uncommon and was to certain extent
socially acceptable. Yet, this would inspire a new generation of terror attacks. The rise of
ISIS’ internet propaganda campaign, reached disgruntled youths residing in the United States
which would inspire such lone wolf attacks. Most notably Omar Mateen, who committed the
Orlando Nightclub Shooting, had no ties to ISIS directly but had pledged his allegiance to
ISIS after being inspired by the US killing of Abu Waheeb in Iraq. Mateen was radicalized
by the outreach by ISIS who called for Muslims to defect against their respective western
governments. Omar Mateen who had worked as a security guard prior had managed to kill
50 people while wounding 53 others, until being killed by the police.

5 Conclusion
Islamic terror has been a product of foreign intervention in the middle east, resentment
toward western countries and cultures and a sense of alienation in certain sections of society.
Islamic terror is the biggest problem in terror the world currently faces, and stopping it
will not be an easy task. Most Islamic terror follow an ideology, which cannot be beaten
militarily, as such there is no certain state (country) which spawns them directly. Social
change is what will solve this issue and it begins with us; the people. Discouraging radical
ideals in Islam and communities turning over radicalized members while working with law
enforcement to prevent further loss of life.

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 Table 4: Major Islamic Terror attacks in the United States from 1993.
Date State Name Fatalities Non-fatal Attacker Claimant
Injuries
February New York 1993 6 1042 Convicted Al-Qaeda
1993 World
Trade
Center
Bomb-
ing
September New York September 2996 6000+ Suicide Al-Qaeda
2001 11 At-
tacks
November Texas Ford 13 33 Arrested Inspired by
2009 Hood Yemen Op-
Shoot- eratives
ing
April Massachusetts
Boston 3 264 Killed & Inspired by
2013 Marathon Arrested Chechen
Bomb- radicals
ing
July 2015 Tennessee 2015 6 2 8 Shot Lone Wolf
Chat- Dead Attack
tanooga
shoot-
ing
December California San 16 24 Shot Dead Inspired by
2015 Bernardino ISIS
attack
June Florida Orlando 50 53 Shot Dead ISIS
2016 Night-
club
Shoot-
ing
October New York New 8 12 Arrested ISIS
2017 York
City
Truck
Attack

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6 References
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Cuthbertson, I. M. (2004). Prisons and the Education of Terrorists. World Policy Jour-
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Heath-Kelly, C. (2012). Reinventing prevention or exposing the gap? False positives in
UK terrorism governance and the quest for pre-emption. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 5(1),
69-87.
Mozaffari, M. (2007). What is Islamism? History and Definition of a Concept. Totali-
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