Lone Wolf Attacks: A dangerous phenomenon; By Jai Kumar Verma

CAS article no. 0096/2016 Courtesy: The Indian Saga

Omar Mir Seddique Mateen before committing the worst mass killing of 50 people in the U.S. history in a night club in Orlando had called American security agencies and told about his allegiance to Islamic State (IS), the most dreaded terrorist outfit in the world. The massacre was the worst since 9/11 multiple terror attacks in the U.S. Mateen, 29, was an American citizen of Afghan origin, shot dead 50 people and injured another 53 persons on June 12 in a gay nightclub in Orlando where 320 persons were present. Mateen was on the radar of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and was cross examined by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 but released as nothing adverse was found against him.

Mateen who carried out this mass execution alone used an AR-15 assault rifle and was also carrying a handgun. The security personnel equipped with armored vehicles and grenades managed to neutralize him during the operation. There was no direct linkage between Mateen and IS but the terrorist organization lost no time in claiming the responsibility of this heinous act and appreciated the act of Mateen. His father as well as his former wife stated that Mateen had no link with any terrorist outfit and he was not a religious fanatic but was against homosexuality. His wife also claimed that he was a bipolar.

Homosexuality is banned in Islam and several Muslim countries in the world including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Mauritania, Yemen, and Nigeria award death sentence to the accused of homosexuality. Amaq, an IS affiliated news agency, claimed that the lone wolf attack was the result of IS appeal to assault Western targets in the holy month of Ramadan. This ghastly act was condemned in strong terms by President Obama, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The analysts claim that this terrorist attack would enhance the polarization and anti-Muslim feelings which would be helpful to Donald Trump who is constantly indulging in anti-Muslim rhetoric including banning the entry of Muslims in the United States.

In an another incident, James Wesley Howell, a 20-year youth, was caught on June 12 at Santa Monica in West Hollywood, California with three assault rifles, high-capacity magazines ammunition and ingredients to make bombs. However, no link could be established between Mateen and Howell but both come under lone wolf category.

Not only in the U.S. but in Paris 25-year old Larossi Abballa killed Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, a senior police officer and his wife who was also working in the police department on June 13. The killer who was maintaining a Facebook account on the fake name of “Mohammed Ali” posted the pictures of his victims on his Facebook account. The terrorist also claimed that his followers should wage Jihad against police officers, prison guards and journalists.

The IS also took responsibility of this double murder through the announcement from Amaq news agency. Abballa had a terrorist background and was imprisoned for three years for terror activities.

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, spokesman of Islamic State, stated that IS encourages “lone wolf” in the West. Such persons are self-radicalized and though they claim before or during the terrorist activity about their association with the terrorist outfit and terrorist outfits also declare that the attack was carried out on their instructions but the fact is, that in most cases lone wolf has no connection with the terrorist groups. They might not be taken any training or financial assistance from the terrorist organisation.

Generally, the people who act as “lone wolf” are unemployed, less educated, and destitutes who are against the prevailing system as they feel that the society is doing grave injustice towards them. The lone wolves become extremists through social media and after witnessing the propaganda material put by various terrorist outfits especially Islamic State which is using social media vigorously. Several young Muslims feel alienated from the society on account of a number of reasons be it education, extremist ideology and fall prey to radical Islamic ideology.

There is need to check the spread of radicalism all over the world. The world must stop assisting the families and children of terrorists and suicide bombers as they had not helped the society by informing the security agencies about the extremist activities of the terrorists. Muslim leaders should try to liberalize Islam and make changes so that the young Muslims get better education and technical training instead of crying about Islamophobia.

The terrorist organizations are happy that the numbers of lone wolves are increasing and it has become a significant tool of terrorism. It is difficult to recognize, watch or apprehend the lone wolf who is an ‘individual terrorist’ before the act. The majority of the cases of terrorism as well as espionage are caught through communication system which is the weakest link in intelligence operations. However, if an attack is carried out by an individual, it will be very difficult to foil his plans as he is not communicating with anyone. Mateen also proved that lone wolf can also inflict bloodshed equal to a group of terrorists.

The terrorists are targeting crowded places which are easy to access than government guarded areas where the access is difficult. Indian security agencies should also take a lesson from the massacre of Orlando and should make sincere efforts of curbing radicalization and must launch programmes of de-radicalization of young minds which are being perverted because of social media and various videos uploaded by diverse terrorist organizations especially Islamic State.

In democratic countries human right violations is the major issue and the security agencies cannot take action without evidences which can sustain in the court. Experts claim that lone wolf attack is a low-tech activity hence it is very difficult to discover and prevent it. It is not feasible to keep watch on all the suspected persons and secondly surveillance to them would raise violations of civil liberties. The danger of lone wolf is increasing not only in Western countries but also in Muslim-minority states because the Jihadist outfits often carry out false propaganda about the atrocities, instigate Muslims and insist on the promulgation of Islamic laws in such countries.

(J K Verma is a Delhi-based security analyst. Views are personal)