ISIS Inspires Rather Than Attacks, Study Shows

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The growing threat of ISIS is not stemming from the extremists themselves, but from the terror group’s propaganda machine.

The boastful jihadi group has neither the logistics nor the resources to mastermind atrocities in other countries, but is inspiring growing numbers of youths unaffiliated to the group to attempt ‘lone wolf’ gun attacks.

Terror experts revealed the weakened cult is now relying on radicalised Westerners to do its dirty work after infecting their minds with its hate-filled ideology online.

A new report has found ISIS-inspired plots are on the rise even though the Islamist fanatics behind three quarters of them have never had any direct contact with the group’s fighters. In fact, of all the terrorist atrocities attempted worldwide in the last year ISIS itself was only involved in the planning of only one.

Terror experts said the findings underline the huge importance of ISIS’ online propaganda campaign, which targets disaffected muslims in western nations.

The police have uncovered 32 ISIS-inspired terror plots in 10 countries since the group declared its so-called Caliphate in July 2014. They involved 58 individuals of 13 different nationalities, but crucially only 16 per cent of those people were directly encouraged to take action by ISIS fighters.

An overwhelming 97 per cent of would-be jihadis are men, according to the report, with three quarters of those under 25 and a shocking 17 per cent teenagers.

Almost a third of those rumbled plotting terrorist atrocities were recent converts to Islam, whilst more than a fifth were already known to the authorities when they were arrested.

The findings were published in a ground-breaking report titled ‘We Will Conquer Your Rome: A Study of Islamic State Terror Plots in the West’.