ISLAMIST TERRORIST PERPETRATED / ATTEMPTED ATTACKS IN ITALY: A LOW-COST APPROACH

After September 11, Islamist terrorism has become a growing concern for the Western countries. The Madrid Atocha bombings on March 11th, 2004 and the London tube bombings on July 7th, 2005 are considered the two most serious attacks perpetrated by islamist terrorists in Western Europe. Nevertheless other terrorist attacks (or attempted attacks) were planned/executed, especially against those countries that actively participated in the Iraq and Afghanistan military missions. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Italy on 11 planned/executed attacks perpetrated by suspected Islamist terrorists in the period 2001-2010. The 11 cases were reviewed through open sources and the analysis mainly suggests the idea of small groups which planned attacks adopting low cost technology and budget.