The calls for terrorist attacks yesterday, Tuesday and today in Madrid, Paris and London against four Champions League soccer matches seemed like calls for lone wolf action on behalf of the Islamic State (IS). Under the slogan of “kill them all,” the messages appeared on social media on Monday, issued by the Al Azaim Foundation, an unofficial media outlet of the Islamic State-Khorasan, and by the even lesser-known Sahr al Jilafa Media.
Amaq, a media outlet known as the official IS agency, however, did not issue statements. In any case, he usually does so to assume responsibility for attacks, such as the most recent one at Crocus City Hall, near Moscow, which caused 144 deaths on March 22. That rule, however, is not always followed and often the IS central command does not report its attacks.
A message from Al Azaim directly referring to Spain said: “My dear fighter in Al Andalus: a very valuable objective awaits you. Disrupt their concentrations, distract their security with IEDS – artisanal explosive traps – and decoy devices, and advance firmly towards your main objective.”
Yesterday Madrid was on alert 4 (out of 5) before the match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu. In London, Arsenal-Bayern Munich was being played at the Emirates Stadium, and for today Paris Saint Germanin-Futbol Club Barcelona was scheduled to take place in the Parc des Princes, in Paris, and Borussia Dormund-Atlético de Madrid, in Madrid. Metropolitan.
In London, Scotland Yard did not change the terrorist alert level yesterday, which remained at “considerable.” In Paris, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said security had been reinforced ahead of today’s meeting in the Parc des Princes. “It’s not something new,” Darmanin said of the latest threats. In France, the Vigipirate plan, a central instrument in the fight against terrorism, was raised to the maximum “emergency attack” level on March 24, two days after the Moscow attack, also taking into account that only around one hundred days until the celebration of the Paris Olympic Games.
According to the TRAC terrorism observatory, the Islamic State has recently refocused its attention on Europe, issuing threats and inciting lone wolf attacks, particularly in the wake of the burning of copies of the Koran and the Gaza war. TRAC warns of the possibility of an increase in this type of terrorist activity in Europe as in 2016.
In any case, the novelty is the appearance on the European stage of the Afghan branch of the Islamic State. IS-Khorasan, whose name derives from Persian and refers to a wide region that ranges from Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan, seems to have acquired greater relevance than the so-called IS-Central Command.
Its leader is Sanaullah Ghafari, 29, who was presumed dead in Afghanistan last June but escaped with injuries across the border into Pakistan and is believed to live in the lawless border province of Balochistan. Named emir of IS-Khorasan in 2020, Ghafari has bolstered the group’s reputation, first with a suicide bombing at Kabul airport in 2021 during the US military withdrawal that killed 13 soldiers and dozens of civilians. In September 2022, he claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul. Last January there was a double attack in Iran that killed almost 100 people at a monument to the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani. And, finally, the deadly shooting, followed by a fire, at the Moscow auditorium.
