ISIL planning for 'large-scale' attacks on Europe: Europol

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has honed the ability to launch global attacks and is set to focus more on Europe following the Paris massacre, the chief of the EU police agency Europol said Jan. 25.

Rob Wainwright told a news conference that "the so-called Islamic State had developed a new combat style capability to carry out a campaign of large-scale terrorist attacks on a global stage -- with a particular focus in Europe."  

"So-called Islamic State has a willingness and a capability to carry out further attacks in Europe, and of course all national authorities are working to prevent that from happening," he added.
 
Wainwright was unveiling the findings of a new Europol report on changes in how the jihadist group operates, coinciding with the launch of the agency's new counterterrorism centre in The Hague.
 
ISIL claimed responsibility for the November 13 Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed, releasing a video on Jan. 24 purporting to show nine of the jihadists in which they threaten "coalition countries" including Britain.
 
A US-led coalition has been fighting ISIL in Iraq since August 2014, and in Syria since September that year.
 
"IS is preparing more terrorist attacks, including more 'Mumbai-style' attacks, to be executed in member states of the EU, and in France in particular," the Europol report said.
 
"The attacks will be primarily directed at soft targets, because of the impact it generates. Both the November Paris attacks and the October 2015 bombing of a Russian airliner suggest a shift in IS strategy towards going global."  

ISIL had developed an "external action command" which was trained for "special forces-style attacks" internationally,...