ISIS targeting vulnerable teens with access to vehicles to recruit new members, terror experts warn

Islamic State are threatening to unleash carnage again and there is one disturbing tactic that has terror experts worried.

Fundamentalist terror group Islamic State poses a major risk to Australia, as it recruits vulnerable teens with access to vehicles “because they can cause more casualties”, terror experts say.

Professor Clive Williams, who is the director of the Terrorism Research Centre in Canberra, said there was a false belief Islamic State had been eliminated.

“I think perhaps internationally there was a feeling it was defeated in 2019 and then Covid-19 came along and distracted everyone and it made it more difficult for terrorist groups,” he said after the New Orleans attack, on New Year’s Day, which killed at least 15 people.

“Now Covid appears largely to have been overcome, Islamic State is regenerating in parts of the world and it will become more of a problem again.’’

A man drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans leaving 15 people dead. Picture: AP/Gerald Herbert

Prof Williams said the terror group was spreading its propaganda online to “young people”, especially “those who feel alienated”.

“It’s mostly teenagers, because they’re going through a period of learning about the world and their environment and they can be encouraged by Islamic State,” he said.

“In terms of attacks, it’s usually those in their early 20s, because they have access to vehicles. The main concern is larger vehicles because they can cause more casualties.’’

Revellers jump out of the way of the truck driven by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans

Former army officer Dr Rodger Shanahan, a Middle East security expert and the author of Islamic State in Australia, agreed ISIS remained “a threat”.

“There have been several (terror) plots disrupted in the United States over the past year or two. They don’t get much press but it’s certainly something that remains attractive to people in the United States and in Europe and they certainly seek to attack targets overseas,’’ he said.

A car drove into a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg in Germany in December. Picture: Getty Images

He said although there had not been any public identification of a planned Islamic State attack in Australia, the terror group still sought to attack the West.

Among those being watched were Australians who had fought for ISIS and since returned and served prison sentences.

Some of those former insurgents were now on control orders and back in the community.

“The jury is out on what risk the ones who’ve been prosecuted and released pose,’’ Dr Shanahan said.

He said there had to be ongoing alertness to the risk posed by those who had been radicalised.

Prof Williams said ISIS was regenerating, particularly in Africa, but it still exists in parts of Syria and parts of Iraq, so it’s still around and encouraging attacks in the West.’’

The attack in Magdeburg left five people dead, including a small child, and more than 200 injured. Picture: Getty Images

In August last year, the Australian Government raised the nation’s terrorism threat level from ‘possible’ to ‘probable’.

A ‘probable’ level, which is below ‘certain’ and ‘expected’ on five scale terror threat system, is categorised as being a more than 50 per cent chance of a terror strike or at least a planned activity within the next 12 months on Australian soil.

Prof Williams said it was more probable that someone who was not on our security agencies’ radar would commit a terror act, than any returned ISIS fighter.

“I think those who returned from fighting overseas are not so much of a problem because they’re monitored. It’s those who aren’t on the radar who pose the greatest risk,’’ he said.

Prof Williams said he disagreed with Australia’s terrorism threat rating being downgraded to ‘possible’ in 2021, saying it’s always been ‘probable’.

“I never agreed with it being at ‘possible’,” he said.

“I wondered about it at the time and I didn’t think it was appropriate. That was ASIO’s judgment.”

Originally published as ISIS targeting vulnerable teens with access to vehicles to recruit new members, terror experts warn