Europe had to prepare for a more complex and "specialized" terrorist attack.
▲On April 9, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League, La Liga Real Madrid drew 3-3 at home with Manchester City of the English Premier League. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Text | Pottery short room
According to foreign media sources quoted by the global network, on April 8, local time, the SITE intelligence agency specializing in monitoring terrorist organizations said that the "Islamic State" (ISIS) issued a threat to launch a terrorist attack on the four stadiums of the upcoming Champions League 1/4 finals, and played the slogan of "kill them all".
This is the second time that the "Islamic State" has spoken out after the terrorist attack in Russia's Moscow Oblast. On the evening of March 22, local time, a serious terrorist attack occurred at the "Krokus City" concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow, killing more than 140 people, and the "Khorasan branch of the Islamic State" (ISIS-K) claimed to have caused the attack.
Now, with both Champions League quarter-games on April 9 coming to an uneventful end, the game itself appears to be business as it should, despite admitting that a number of coaches, players and fans have been affected by the threat of terrorist attacks.
Threatening to "kill them all"
ISIS-K publishes threats of terrorist attacks on major football stadiums in Europe on various platforms through ISIS's peripheral propaganda agencies. In the images posted on various platforms, a terrorist wearing a black veil and a gray robe is armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, and the stadiums that are "named" include the Emirates Stadium in London, the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, and the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, with the words "Kill them all" with the eye-catching words.
This is clearly a threat of a terrorist attack against the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League, which is taking place. On April 9, Arsenal played Bayern Munich for the first time at home, and Real Madrid hosted Manchester City at home. Twenty-four hours later, Paris Saint-Germain hosted Barcelona and Atletico Madrid hosted Borussia Dortmund. The four stadiums in the background of the threatening photo are the home of the four home teams in the first leg.
The UEFA Champions League is one of the occasions with the highest instantaneous concentration of urban population in Europe, and the countries involved dare not slack off. Paris, France, will host the Olympics this year, and the security requirements were originally high, and Interior Minister Darmanin announced for the first time that the security of the Paris Saint-Germain home match on April 10 will be "greatly strengthened". In Madrid, Spain, which hosted two of the tournaments, the anti-violence committee of the city government immediately declared the tournament "high risk" and announced that more than 3,000 security personnel would be deployed before and after the event.
On the afternoon of April 9, the Metropolitan Police of the United Kingdom issued a statement on the current terrorist threat in the United Kingdom, and the deputy assistant commissioner for security affairs in London said that the current level of terrorist threat in the United Kingdom is still at a "significant" level, "which means that there may be a terrorist attack", and they "will work closely with the counter-terrorism police to plan the event in London, considering any relevant information that can help us keep participants safe."
UEFA also issued a statement saying that "UEFA is aware of the alleged terrorist threat for this week's UEFA Champions League match and is in close contact with the authorities of the various venues." All matches will be played as planned, with appropriate safety measures in place."
▲On March 22, a fire broke out after a shooting in a concert hall in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow, Russia. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
ISIS-K is ambitious
In fact, ISIS-K's threat of terrorist attacks against major European sporting events is not new. Even before the terrorist attack in Moscow, several authoritative sources warned that "the group may attack public targets outside Afghanistan", and at that time, the threat factor of "large-scale cultural and sports event sites in Europe" was even before "large public event venues in Russia".
Paris and other cities have also stepped up security in response to the rumors. Just last week, ISIS-K threatened German fans through the same channel, forcing the Germans to raise the security level.
However, the above-mentioned threats of terrorist attacks on the scene of large-scale European events were all "skipped" like "wolves" in the end. Even so, the countries and organizations concerned do not dare to take it lightly.
First of all, the ISIS international terrorist organization has indeed carried out terrorist attacks against major European sports venues, and there are painful lessons to be learned from this. On November 13, 2015, in order to test the Stade de France in Paris, a friendly match between the French national team and the German national team was held.
Obviously, whether it is Paris on November 13, 2015 or Moscow Oblast on March 22, 2024, similar terrorist attacks are unbearable burdens for all countries, major cities and all parties involved in the event.
Second, ISIS-K has indeed stepped up its activities outside Afghanistan recently. With the Taliban's strength in Afghanistan, it is becoming more and more difficult for ISIS-K, which is in competition with it, to gain a foothold in Afghanistan, and the United States and its allies have withdrawn their troops.
The international community's retreat from Afghanistan has also weakened its intelligence-gathering and early-warning capabilities for the organization. All of this is undoubtedly conducive to ISIS-K's efforts to move outside Afghanistan and cause bloodshed.
Counterterrorism expert Jaddoun pointed out that in the past three years, ISIS itself has been silent, while ISIS-K has taken the opportunity to recover in South and Central Asia, and its decision-makers have also bred the ambition of "taking advantage of the situation to rise on a larger scale".
According to a January 2024 UN report, ISIS-K is recruiting troops in neighboring Afghanistan, particularly parts of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, to augment its current estimated 4,000-6,000 troops, "with the aim of creating a network of regional terrorist groups to help them carry out terrorist attacks on an international scale." Obviously, Europe will have to prepare for a more complex and "professional" terrorist attack.
Intimidation should not be taken lightly
UEFA issued a statement earlier on April 9, saying that "UEFA is aware of the alleged terrorist threat against this week's UEFA Champions League matches and is in close contact with the authorities at the various venues" and that "all matches are ready to go ahead as planned and with appropriate security measures in place".
Now, ISIS-K has reverted to silence after the "wolf" threat was issued. Experts estimate that they are likely to continue to sound the "wolf" like "wolf" on the eve of the next matchday, on the one hand, to exhaust the enemy at the lowest cost, and on the other hand, to paralyze the opponent on the other hand, while looking for the next target to see the cold son bite again.
Paris is clearly the most nervous when it is about to host the Olympics, with thousands of military and police on standby. French Prime Minister Attar said the threat of fundamentalist terrorism "is real and we are constantly preparing for all eventualities".
ISIS-K is a very vicious and dangerous extremist terrorist organization, and its origins, military sources and mainland China are close to each other. Although the "false alarm" against the European football arena is thousands of miles away, the mainland should not take it lightly.
Written by Tao Short Room (Columnist)
Editor / Chi Daohua
Proofreading / Wang Xin
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