Igor Bondarenko, President of the European Academy of Security and Conflictology, Professor, Doctor of Law.
Terrorism once again made itself known. The tragedy this time took place in the heart of London. On the 22d of March in the afternoon the car deliberately drove to the sidewalk of Westminster Bridge and began to crush passersby, and then turned to the building of the British Parliament and crashed into the fence of Westminster Palace. As a result, 4 people were killed and about 40 injured. Again, as in the case of previous similar acts of terrorism, ISIS, which is banned in Russia and in many other countries, took responsibility for this terrorist act.
The tactic that was chosen by the terrorists is very similar to the terrorist attack in Nice on July 14, 2016, and to the terrorist attack on the Christmas market Breitescheidplatz in Berlin on December 10, 2016. Only details were changed. The criminals decided not to use trucks that attract attention from the security forces. In this case they used an ordinary car, which remained invisible in the flow of cars. There is one more difference. If in Nice and in Berlin terrorist acts were made by migrants from Tunisia, then in London, the car was driven by the 52-years old Khalid Masud - a native of Kent county, who was born with the name Adrian Elms and who worked as a teacher. It turns out that he, like many other terrorists, was already in the field of view of law enforcement agencies, but his direct connection with terrorist organizations was not established at that time. Masud was the so-called "Peripheral suspect" in the list of special services Mi-5, i.e. he was not considered as the person who could commit high-profile crimes. This logic of the representatives of special services has failed.
After a series of explosions in London on July 7, 2005 that claimed the lives of 52 people (about 700 were injured), this is the first such incident in the capital of United Kingdom, except one unsuccessful attempt to undermine 4 bombs in London on July 21, 2005. The British police then has developed a plan for a full-scale response to the terrorist threats, which included 15 main measures. But now, in the conditions of a mass influx of migrants, these measures proved to be practically in vain. ISIS, whose existence could hardly be thought 12 years ago, spread its criminal activities also to Great Britain, recruiting its contingent already among Her Majesty's subjects.
A new model of terrorist attacks has been created for terrorists. But no one can guarantee that this model will be used again, that there will be a series of events like attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015 or the bomb explosions at the Brussels airport and subway on March 22, 2016.
Everything seems like running in a vicious circle - the powerlessness of special services, new crimes. Only the methods of criminals and the places of the terrorist attacks are changed. Without a single well-defined international strategy, achieving stability in Africa and in the Middle East, where the current situation simply pushes out crowds of refugees, and without the complete destruction of ISIS - it will be impossible to defeat terror.