By DPA,
Brussels : The threat of a large-scale Al Qaeda attack on European soil is “real”, especially now that actions attributed to the US in Afghanistan and Pakistan have put the terrorist network under pressure, a top European Union official said Wednesday.
EU anti-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove’s remarks came in the wake of several terrorism alerts raised by the US and other countries about the growing threat of an attack in Europe.
“It’s part of a general threat that has not diminished recently. It also confirms what I have been saying for a long time, that we should not presume that because there are no attacks, there is no threat,” de Kerchove said in a video statement.
The determination “to carry out large-scale attacks … is heightened as the pressure mounts against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with drone strikes and special operations by the Americans,” the EU official added.
“Since they are in a tight corner, they need to re-establish their authority by trying to commit an attack,” he explained.
De Kerchove is expected to join a discussion between EU interior ministers and the US deputy secretary of homeland security, Jane Holl Lute, Thursday in Luxembourg on the terrorist threat.
Referring to unconfirmed news that anti-militant drone attacks in Pakistan had earlier this week killed eight German nationals, the EU’s anti-terrorism czar said it was “worrying” that an increasing number of Islamists are found to be EU nationals.
“We have flows of Europeans … eager to join the jehad and join hot spots in Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan. This is worrying, because having a passport from (an EU) member state … these people may fly under the radar and not be easily detected,” he warned.