Islamic terrorism also known as Islamist terrorism or Jihadist terrorism has been carried out in Europe by the jihadist groups Islamic State ISIL or Al-Qaeda as well as Islamist lone wolves since the late 20th century. Europol , which releases the annual EU Terrorism Situation and Trend report TE-SAT , used the term "Islamist terrorism" in reports for the years β, "religiously inspired terrorism" for the years β, and has used "jihadist terrorism" since then. In the s, the deadliest attacks of this period were the Madrid train bombings , which killed civilians the deadliest Islamist attack in Europe , and the 7 July London bombings , which killed After , there was a rise in Islamic terrorist incidents in Europe.
A number of plots involved people who entered or re-entered Europe as asylum seekers during the European migrant crisis , [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] and some attackers had returned to Europe after fighting in the Syrian civil war.
While most earlier Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe were carried out by groups and involved bombs, most attacks since have been carried out by individuals using guns, knives and vehicles. The report describes jihadism as a violent subcurrent of Salafism , while noting that other subcurrents of Salafism are quietist.
The first incidents of jihadist terrorism occurred in France in when a network with ties to Algeria carried out a string of bombings in Paris in retaliation for French involvement in the Algerian Civil War. In the early s, much of this terrorist activity was linked to Al-Qaeda and the plots tended to involve groups carrying out co-ordinated bombings.
The deadliest attacks of this period were the Madrid train bombings , which killed civilians the deadliest Islamist attack in Europe , and the 7 July London bombings , which killed Although militants in Syria had started to organize attacks in Europe by sending terrorist operatives to carry out attacks as early as , security services in the European countries they sought to attack did not see the arrested individuals as part of a network with a cohesive strategy.
