Daesh targeted vital civil posts to create panic and put more pressure on security services. These new tactics brought new-fangled challenges to the security services, especially to those who have been going through a very crucial period.
The group has been a non-stop alarm for over five years now. The biggest challenge lies in how all countries neighbouring Syria and Iraq will face the continuous crisis in the region, particularly at a time when risks are not restricted to the terrorist threat only, but also from the transnational organised crime that has evolved during the crisis. The recent terrorism escalation puts security services in front of a variety of challenges, forces them to keep up with the rapidly evolving level of crimes, the complexity of the new tactics and the approaches of the continuously breeding terrorist groups. Understanding the seriousness of the risks the world is witnessing nowadays should urge decision makers to adopt new strategies, based on building the capacity of security services, to make them highly capable of facing both terrorism and organised crimes. There should also be focus on enhancing their level of professionalism, sense of responsibility and commitment, because one tiny mistake today could exact a big price indeed. Moreover, these strategies should not exclude an immediate application of a de-radicalisation plan by both military and civic sectors. Studies show that signs of radicalisation started to be noticed in military sectors in various countries. While keeping a high standard of professionalism and combating radicalisation are major challenges for many security agencies in the Arab region, European security services seem to have a different kind of challenge. European countries are obliged to revise their internal policies and to reform the way they have been dealing with many security and political issues.
Most importantly, they need to end the “closing an eye” policy that made Europe enemies from within itself. There is need for more harmony among institutions when it comes to cooperation on security issues. It is ludicrous to realise that some EU countries were paying, monthly, the unemployment fee of 600 euros to people who were fighting in Syria. In the case of Belgium, a walk around the main railway station would have been more than enough to make any analyst predict the level and kind of extremism it could be exposed to. Thus, to be surprised today at having reached that point is illogic. Facing terrorism with traditional security methods does not work anymore. There is no security service in the world that is capable of monitoring all people everywhere. Security measures can be taken to protect sensitive areas, but recent developments show that terrorist groups are not interested in reaching these points to achieve their goals. Therefore, to prevent this danger from materialising is more of “intelligence work” than police work.
It is important to deal with the new terrorist approach by enhancing the level of cooperative security and by understanding from mistakes. At the same time, security concerns should not delay the application of a de-radicalisation strategy. The real battle lies in the cultural and social change, in the change of the way of life and thinking. Such battle cannot be won merely with weapons or anti-terrorist operations.
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