Terrorist Threat
Global Terrorism Situation
The global terrorism situation remains heightened in recent years. Numerous countries are subject to sustained threat posed by various types of terrorism.
While prominent terrorist groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Qaeda (AQ) continue to incite their members and supporters to stage attacks across different countries, some overseas violent extremists also capitalize on controversial issues or matters of concern to rationalize their use of extreme violence to advance their political or ideological causes.
In particular, the mass shootings took place at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in April 2019 highlighted the uprising threat of far-right extremism and domestic terrorism. The casualties and fear created in the attack were comparable to other attacks staged by Islamist extremists.
It is worth noting that most violent extremists are radicalized by extremist propaganda disseminated on the Internet and social media platforms. The trend inevitably increases the difficulties for law enforcement agencies to identify violent extremists and carry out early intervention.