Truck attack was crude, but effective act of terrorism
The use of a 17-tonne truck to cut down scores of seaside revelers in Nice, France — if connected to jihadist-inspired terrorism — would represent a dramatic escalation in what experts describe as an emerging trend in attacks: simple, even crude instruments employed to kill ever-larger numbers of people.
Thursday’s rampage appears to have set a grisly new standard as one of the deadliest attacks in years in which most victims were killed by nonexplosive means. Instead of guns or bombs, the driver mainly used his vehicle to crush men, women and children who had gathered to watch a fireworks display.
Investigators are still looking for clues that the driver, identified on Friday as a Tunisian-born émigré with a record of petty crime, had any ties to extremists. But intelligence officials and terrorism experts worried that the attack’s stunning effectiveness could serve as an inspiration to terrorist groups around the world, while perhaps portending yet another evolution in the methodology used by violent jihadists loyal to Al Qaeda or Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
“We have reached a stage where terrorist organizations want to create an environment in which they could hit anywhere at any time, using whatever method,” said a European security official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive assessments of terrorist strategy. “The videos and messages against France and other European countries have been published in various social media platforms, with the message to ‘use whatever to kill, even cars.’ “
Since June, suspected terrorists have launched five major attacks on three continents, all using comparatively simple but lethal technologies, from small arms to simple explosives. U.S. officials have issued repeated warnings that even cruder tactics, such as vehicle assaults on crowds, could happen in the United States, A 2010 Department of Homeland Security Report said overseas terrorists were contemplating “vehicle ramming attacks-using modified or unmodified vehicles-against crowds, buildings” and other targets likely to feature large concentrations of people. Such attacks could be carried out by individuals with “minimal prior training or experience,” the report warned.
The assault along one of the French Riviera’s most iconic promenades follows a series of calls by both the Daesh and Al Qaeda affiliates for spontaneous acts of terror by any means available. Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the chief spokesman for Daesh, specifically encouraged using automobiles as weapons.
“If you are not able to find an IED (improvised explosive device) or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him,” Adnani said in 2014.
Such appeals have increased in recent months as the military offensive against its strongholds gains momentum.