Lone-wolf attacks have evolved as the new face of terrorism and bring unique challenges for counter-terrorism studies. Violent terror attacks by extremist individuals acting upon their radicalised beliefs are termed ‘Lone-wolf terrorism’. Their actions are either inspired or influenced by a specific terrorist organisation and ideology or operate within a particular social atmosphere. Lone-wolf terrorists might be ‘loner’ acting individually without a particular ideological influence and therefore without a leader, they’re free to move between groups. But upon arrest, they may associate themselves with specific terrorist organisations. On the other hand, some terrorist organisations may also claim responsibility to gain ‘free glory’ or publicity. Lone-wolf terrorists and their attacks have an element of unpredictability, because of which counter-terrorism agencies, police and intelligence organisations have found it challenging to tackle.
The growing threat of lone-wolf terrorism | ORF (orfonline.org)
