Lessons learned from terror attacks: thematic priorities and development since 2001—results from a systematic review

Purpose The threat of national and international terrorism remains high. Preparation is the key requirement for the resilience of hospitals and out-of-hospital rescue forces. The scientific evidence for defining medical and tactical strategies often feeds on the analysis of real incidents and the lessons learned derived from them. This systematic review of the literature aims to identify and systematically report lessons learned from terrorist attacks since 2001. Methods PubMed was used as a database using predefined search strategies and eligibility criteria. All countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were included. The time frame was set between 2001 and 2018. Results Finally 68 articles were included in the review. From these, 616 lessons learned were extracted and summarized into 15 categories. The data shows that despite the difference in attacks, countries, and casualties involved, many of the lessons learned are similar. We also found that the pattern of lessons learned is repeated continuously over the time period studied. Conclusions The lessons from terrorist attacks since 2001 follow a certain pattern and remained constant over time. Therefore, it seems to be more accurate to talk about lessons identified rather than lessons learned. To save as many victims as possible, protect rescue forces from harm, and to prepare hospitals at the best possible level it is important to implement the lessons identified in training and preparation.

The Influence of Terrorism Activities on Muslim-Christian Relations in Garissa County, Kenya

Terrorism is no doubt a global problem of the 21st century and as evidenced by the continued terror attacks, the menace is causing major global security distress. In Kenya terrorism has among other things considerably affected the Muslim-Christian relations in the country. Despite vast literature on terrorism and interreligious relations, there are limited research on the influence of terrorism on Muslim-Christian relations in Garissa County, Kenya hence this study. The general objective of this study was to examine the influence of terrorism on Muslim-Christian relations in Garissa County, Kenya. The study employed both descriptive and explanatory design. The target population of the study was 199,469 from Garissa County from which a sample of 384 respondents were obtained through purposive sampling. Data was collected from primary sources using; questionnaires, interview guide and focus group discussions as well as secondary sources, through literature review. The findings revealed that, terrorist selective attacks of Christians and the use Islamic concept of jihad during attacks have created suspicion and mistrust among the Muslims and Christians in the area. The study concludes that unless the misunderstanding of the concept of Jihad is demystified, the Muslims-Christians relations will significantly be affected as the terrorist will continue propagating their attacks as an Islamic concept of jihad. The study recommends that Muslim leaders needs to demystify the concept of Jihad in order to restore Muslim-Christian relations. Also, the Government security agencies and civil society, Muslim leaders, and Christians should continually organize awareness campaigns in the region to create alertness about the terrorist’s schemes.

Perpetrator witnessing: Testing the norms and forms of witnessing through livestreaming terror attacks

This article studies perpetrator livestreams as an emerging witnessing genre in today’s digital media circuit. Perpetrator livestreams challenge the norms of witnessing by undermining the ethos traditionally associated with testimonies. They also challenge the forms of witnessing by being integral to the attacks and disseminated across media. Combining scholarship on witnessing and liveness, this article proposes a conceptual framework for understanding perpetrator livestreaming as a witnessing genre, which falls into the three phases pre-mediation, mediation, and re-mediation. Moreover, a prominent example of perpetrator witnessing is analyzed: the livestreaming of the terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

Terrorism and Tourism

The booming tourism sector in Turkey has resulted in major economic gains in terms of direct revenues to both government and private sectors alike. Turkey had more than 45 million visits in 2018, and top inbound arrivals were from Russia and European Union (EU) members, such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and Bulgaria, among others (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2020). However, terrorism is becoming a challenge to tourism development. This study explores terrorism–tourism dynamics in Turkey. The short- and long-run impacts of terror attacks on tourism revenues were examined within the framework of an autoregressive lag (ARDL) model using monthly data for the period between 2012 and 2018. The empirical findings did not support terrorism's effects on tourism revenues. However, in the long run, terror-related casualties and fatalities on tourism revenues had different effects. The findings affirm that the casualty rate has a stronger impact on terrorism–tourism dynamics in Turkey because a 1% increase in reported injuries from terror attacks hampers revenues by approximately 0.1%. Hence, adequate and continuous support for general security establishments is imperative while strengthening commitments to the international cooperation on the war against terrorism to proactively contain the undesirable impacts of terrorism in the Turkish tourism industry,

Legal and Regulatory Responses Adopted by Kenya to Combat Terrorism in the Aviation Industry

Terrorist acts against the civil aviation industry have remained sustained since the first recorded aircraft hijack in February 1931. The devastating effects of a successful terror attack in the aviation industry transcend the jurisdictions of many states, threatening their national and human security. This study sought to analyse the responses to combat terrorism within the aviation industry in Kenya. It employed the exploratory research design. This design is appropriate for a research problem in cases where there are few documented studies for reference. Secondary data was collected from government publications, websites, internal records and reports, conference proceedings, research articles, and books, among others. The data collected was analysed thematically. The findings show that due to the many devastating terrorist attacks in Kenya, a number of legal measures have been progressively initiated to strengthen the security of all aspects of Kenya’s commercial civil aviation against terror attacks. These include the protection of Aircraft Act, 1970 (revised in 2012). Article 2(6) of the Constitution of Kenya provides that any treaty or convention ratified by Kenya shall form part of the law of Kenya. Another Act put in place is The Civil Aviation Act, 2002 (revised 2013), which established the KCAA to regulate and oversee aviation safety and security as guided by the provisions of the Convention on the International Civil Aviation. There is also the Kenya Security Laws Amendment Act, 2014 (Section 75) which provided for the establishment of a mechanism for coordinating counter-terrorism measures in all entry and exit ports in the country. There are also numerous regulatory strategies adopted to combat terrorism in Kenya’s aviation industry. The country has also put in place elaborate regulations on Preventive Security Measures contained in Part IV of the Civil Aviation (Security) Regulations, 2019. Further, the country has instituted the training program with aims to ensure that personnel of all entities involved with or responsible for the implementation of various aspects of aviation security are properly trained on the appropriate standards for tasks in accordance with the national civil aviation security program. The country also undertakes Aviation Security Audits and Reviews. It can thus be concluded that Kenya has adopted elaborate legal and regulatory responses to combat terrorism in the aviation industry. These have been largely successful in combating aviation terrorism in Kenya. Based on the study findings, there is a need for regular reviews of the various legal and regulatory responses to combatting terrorism in Kenya to enhance their efficacy and responsiveness to the dynamism of international terrorism. Furthermore, the training strategies should be strengthened through increased funding to enhance the domestication of the various legal and regulatory responses in the various aviation security agencies in Kenya. KCAA should also increase the frequency of aviation security audits, inspections, system tests, investigations, and surveys on airports, airlines, cargo agents, and inflight catering operators among others in response to increased sophistication of international terrorism.

One and the Same? An Exploration into Two Common Ideological Motivations for Lone-Actor Terror Attacks in the West Between 2010-2017

<p>Islamic extremism (IE) and right-wing extremism (RWE) are the two most common ideological motivations for perpetrating lone-actor terrorism in the West. This study explored the similarities and differences of these ideologies by coding for specific attack and personal characteristics of attacks that occurred between 2010-2017 in Western Europe, Australia, and North America. Lone-actor terrorism included attacks perpetrated by individuals, as well as isolated dyads and triads. A codebook was developed to capture the attack and personal characteristics, and data was obtained from media and other open-source reporting. The dataset included a total of 99 cases perpetrated by 102 individual actors. The study found that lone-actor attacks perpetrated by IE and RWE had increased significantly over the time period studied. Some key significant differences were found: IE were more likely to be an immigrant to the country of attack they were born in, were more likely to target civilians, and their plots or extremist activity were more visible to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, while RWE were more likely to be single, more likely to target social minorities less likely to have experienced tertiary level education or higher, less likely to have children, and are significantly older than IEs. However, for the majority of variables there were no significant differences between IE and RWE, including variables that may indicate strain in a perpetrator’s life (mental health, social isolation and experience of stressful events), indicating that overall the attacks perpetrated by individuals of the two ideologies share more commonalities than differences.</p>

One and the Same? An Exploration into Two Common Ideological Motivations for Lone-Actor Terror Attacks in the West Between 2010-2017

<p>Islamic extremism (IE) and right-wing extremism (RWE) are the two most common ideological motivations for perpetrating lone-actor terrorism in the West. This study explored the similarities and differences of these ideologies by coding for specific attack and personal characteristics of attacks that occurred between 2010-2017 in Western Europe, Australia, and North America. Lone-actor terrorism included attacks perpetrated by individuals, as well as isolated dyads and triads. A codebook was developed to capture the attack and personal characteristics, and data was obtained from media and other open-source reporting. The dataset included a total of 99 cases perpetrated by 102 individual actors. The study found that lone-actor attacks perpetrated by IE and RWE had increased significantly over the time period studied. Some key significant differences were found: IE were more likely to be an immigrant to the country of attack they were born in, were more likely to target civilians, and their plots or extremist activity were more visible to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, while RWE were more likely to be single, more likely to target social minorities less likely to have experienced tertiary level education or higher, less likely to have children, and are significantly older than IEs. However, for the majority of variables there were no significant differences between IE and RWE, including variables that may indicate strain in a perpetrator’s life (mental health, social isolation and experience of stressful events), indicating that overall the attacks perpetrated by individuals of the two ideologies share more commonalities than differences.</p>

Muslim Community in the Atmosphere of Populism in Norway

In the European nations, there has been a lot of discussions and arguments regarding the community who have a ‘migration background’. Migrants nowadays are more capable of competing against local residents in terms of looking for better employment and participating in the political activities in European countries. Consequently, it creates fear within ‘mainstream’ society since it is presumably able to threaten their way of life. This interesting moment can benefit the populist political parties for gaining voices from the majority population. But, in the aftermath of 22/7 terror attacks in Norway, it also created tension between locals and those who are considered having a ‘migration background’. The people who have migration background, especially Muslim community, already has long history of migration to Norway. Therefore, the research question is how the Muslim community adapt to the situation of populism in Norway. By using historical literatures and research articles regarding the aftermath of 22/7 terror attack, it shows that the intersectional approach is useful to see the intermingled aspects of class, identity, religion, nationality, gender, and ethnicity of marginalised communities. These migrants now are facing multiple discriminations. Protests in the public sphere as a way of adapting to the atmosphere of populism are considered as their struggles for citizenship since the government seems to fail at managing multicultural society, especially advocating the minority groups. This kind of situation is common in the era of populism emerging in many countries targeting minority groups as political manoeuvre in order to gain voices among the ‘common’ society.