European leaders and security chiefs had a sobering message after the Bastille Day killings in Nice: such lone attacks using ordinary vehicles are nearly impossible to prevent and can be carried out by almost anyone.
“We have moved into a new era,” said Prime Minister Manuel Valls. “And France will have to live with terrorism.”
His Belgian counterpart, Charles Michel said in Brussels, where ISIS militants staged attacks in March and had planned last November’s Paris attacks, that “zero risk does not exist.”
“We are now faced with a different modus operandi,” he said in the Belgian capital which, like cities in France, is still on a state of high alert with troops and heavily armed police on the streets and on guard at major public events.
Limitation of Security Against Stray Attacks
A local, 31-year-old, Tunisian-born Frenchman drove the rented heavy truck for 2 km along the palm-fringed Promenade des Anglais seafront, which was closed to traffic and thronged with thousands of revellers watching fireworks.
What can you do against this? It’s impossible to prevent. Even if there were clues.Andre Jacob, Former Head of Counter-Terrorism, Belgium’s State Security Service
That the attacker could run over and kill 84 people reflects not only the surprise, the density of the crowds and the lethal weight and speed of the vehicle, creating a far deadlier impact than many similar ramming attacks.
It also speaks to a lack of barriers on the road and the limited firepower of the police on duty.
Some 25 bullet holes spattered the windshield of the truck, standing where it stopped and the driver was shot dead. The glass had not shattered because police officers were armed with standard issue pistols rather than the high-power automatic rifles carried by troops and sued by some police during emergencies.
Newer Attacking Techniques Among Terrorists
This seems like the act of an isolated individual where it’s impossible to prevent anything in the sense that terrorists will adapt to their targets and you can’t turn everywhere into a ‘fan-zone’, behind barriers and police checkpointsAndre Jacob
Two years ago, ISIS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani released an audio recording calling on the group’s supporters to kill “any infidel, French, American, or any of their allies” and recommending they use simple methods, including vehicles.
Nice shows an evolution of tactics from terrorists...France has been on high terror alert for months with troops on the street yet still could not prevent this atrocitAlan Mendoza, Executive Director of The Henry Jackson Society
He said that given the difficulties of detecting such attacks in advance or stopping them once they start, societies must work to prevent the radicalisation of young Europeans and attack the Islamists who urge them to act from bases abroad.
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