Oliver Wheaton in Metro.co.uk of 15 January 2015 writes that “the number of terrorists who are actually Muslim or religiously motivated will surprise you”. This surprised me and perhaps also many of my readers who – like me – followed the impact of the terrorist attacks in Paris last week.
According to statistics from Europol, less than two per cent of all recorded acts of terror in Europe were perpetrated with religious motivations, with an even smaller number being committed by Muslim extremists. Estimates suggest only around two per cent of all terrorist attacks were committed by Islamic groups or individuals. For example, out of the 152 terrorist acts in the EU in 2013, only two were religiously motivated. In 2011, none of the 174 attacks were ‘inspired’ by religious organisations.The majority of terrorist activity concerns ethno-nationalist organisations, who often commit acts of terrorism that have low, if any, casualty rates, meaning they do not get extensive news coverage. However Europol added: “Islamist terrorists still aim to cause mass casualties.”Data from the last five years (2010-2014) of terrorist attacks in Europe (Picture: Europol / Metro)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 