As the Islamic State (ISIS) has lost ground in the Middle East, terrorists across the world have taken up the cause. Radical Islamic terror attacks have expanded across the world. The West has experienced far less than the Middle East, but the attacks are still notable.
Here are seventeen radical Islamic terror attacks in the West in 2017.
1. February 3, Paris, France.
In February, 29-year-old Egyptian Abdullah Hamamy attacked soldiers with two machetes at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Hamamy was shot in the stomach as he lunged at soldiers. No one was killed, but one soldier was injured.
President Francois Hollande said there is little doubt it was a terrorist attack, and authorities said the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack. Hamamy’s father, Reda al-Hamamy, a retired Egyptian police general, insisted his son is not a terrorist and accused the soldier of “using brute force with a poor young man.”
2. March 22, London, England.
In March, 52-year-old Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians near the Palace of Westminster in London. He injured more than 50 people and killed four. After crashing the car, Masood abandoned it and fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer. He was shot by another police officer and died at the scene.
Masood reportedly said in a final text message that he was waging jihad in revenge for Western military action in Muslim countries. ISIS’ Amaq News Agency said the attacker answered its calls to target citizens of the states fighting against ISIS.
3. April 3, St. Petersburg, Russia.
In April, a bomb went off on the St. Petersburg metro, eventually killing 15 and injuring at least 45 others.
The suspect, an ethnic Uzbek born in Kyrgyzstan named Akbarzhon Jalilov, had reportedly traveled to Syria to fight with ISIS.
4. April 7, Stockholm, Sweden.
In April, 39-year-old Uzbek Rakhmat Akilov drove a stolen beer truck into crowds along Drottninggatan (Queen Street) in central Stockholm. He killed five people and seriously injured 14 others.
Akilov had posted ISIS videos on Facebook and exchanged WhatsApp messages with ISIS supporters. He reportedly confessed to police, saying he had “achieved” what he could.
5. April 7, Queanbeyan, Australia.
On the same day as the Stockholm attack, two teenage boys slashed people at a station in the small town of Queanbeyan in New South Wales, Australia. The boys killed one man and wounded three others.
The boys reportedly wrote the letters “IS” in blood on the walls of the station. One of their mothers said her son had been radicalized in recent weeks and sympathized with the Islamic State.
6. April 20, Paris, France.
Also that month, Karim Cheurfi shot three French police officers with an AK-47 on the historic boulevard Champs-Élysées in Paris. One police officer died, and two others were wounded, along with a German female tourist. Cheurfi was shot dead by police.
Amaq claimed the attack for the Islamic State. Cheurfi had an extensive criminal record, and had served a twelve-year prison sentence for an earlier attempt to murder two police officers. Police found a note praising ISIS on his body.
7. May 22, Manchester, England.
In May, a homemade bomb went off at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing 23 people and injuring over 500 others. Police identified the bomber as Salman Ramadan Abedi.
ISIS claimed the attack was carried out by “a soldier of the Khilafah,” and was in response to the attacks against “Muslim lands.” Abedi’s sister suggested he was motivated by revenge for Muslim children killed by American airstrikes in Syria.
8. June 3, London Bridge, England.
In June, three attackers (27-year-old Khuram Shazad Butt, 31-year-old Rachid Redouane, 22-year-old Youssef Zaghba) drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge, then crashed the van and began stabbing people around restaurants and pubs. They killed eight people and injured 48 others, including four unarmed police officers. The attackers were shot dead by police.
British officials said they were confident these attackers were radical Islamic terrorists. Amaq claimed them as ISIS fighters.
9. June 5, Brighton, Australia.
Also that month, 29-year-old Yacqub Khayre murdered a receptionist and held a prostitute hostage at the Buckingham International Serviced Apartments in Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne. Khayre was killed in a police shootout that wounded three officers.
Khayre referred to ISIS and al-Qaeda during the attack, and had been involved in the Holsworthy Barracks terrorist plot, a suicide attack in Sydney. In other words, he was a “known wolf,” familiar to authorities. Amaq also claimed the attack for ISIS.
10. June 20, Brussels, Belgium.
Later that month, 36-year-old Moroccan Oussama Zariouh set off a bomb at Brussels Central Station in the Belgian capital. There were no casualties, but Zariouh was killed by soldiers patrolling the station.
Zariouh shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack, and the ISIS magazine Rumijah later praised him as a model for Muslims to emulate.
11. June 21, Flint, Michigan.
Later in June, 49-year-old Amor Ftouhi stabbed a police officer at the Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan. He used a roughly 12-inch knife with an 8-inch serrated blade. Both the officer and Ftouhi survived the incident.
According to authorities, Ftouhi yelled, “Allahu Akbar!” before the attack, and continued to yell “Allah” and then said, “You have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die.”
12. August 18, Turku, Finland.
In August, 22-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker Abderrahman Bouanane stabbed 10 people in the southwest Finland city of Turku. Two people were killed and eight were wounded in the attack. A second suspect, Zuhriddin Rashidov, is wanted on an international arrest warrant.
Bouanane was found with ISIS propaganda material and a video of him reciting a manifesto. During the attack, he yelled, “Allahu Akbar!” This was the first terrorist attack in Finland since World War II.
13. August 25, Brussels, Belgium.
Later that month, an unidentified Somali man born in 1987 attacked soldiers in Brussels with a knife. He lightly wounded two soldiers before getting shot twice by officers. He died of his injuries.
The unidentified attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar!” in the attack, and Amaq later claimed the attack for ISIS.
14. September 15, London, England, Paris and Chalon-sur-Saone, France.
Early on the morning of September 15, an explosion at the Parsons Green Underground station sent thirty people to the hospital for burn injuries. Police arrested 18-year-old Iraqi refugee Ahmed Hassan, the main suspect.
The event was investigated as an incident of radical Islamic terror, and Amaq claimed it for the Islamic State.
On that same day, two men shouted “Allahu Akbar!” while attacking people in France. A knife-wielding man attacked police in Paris and a hammer-weilding man attacked two women in a park in Chalon-sur-Saone in Burgundy.
15. September 30, Edmonton, Canada.
Later that month, 30-year-old Abdulahi Sharif hit pedestrians and a police officer with a rental truck. He also stabbed the officer. All five injured survived and were hospitalized. Police arrested Sharif on terrorism charges.
Police found an ISIS flag in the truck Sharif used.
16. October 31, New York City, New York.
On Halloween, 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov, an Uzbekistani immigrant, drove a rented pickup truck into runners and cyclists in New York City. Saipov killed eight people and injured 11 others. After crashing the truck, he wielded a paintball gun and a pellet gun and was shot by police and arrested.
Police found an ISIS flag and a document pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in the truck. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in its newsletter, and authorities discovered that Saipov had followed ISIS advice in the attack.
17. December 11, New York City, New York.
Just under two weeks later, 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant and would-be suicide bomber Akayed Ullah set off a pipe bomb near New York City’s Port Authority bus terminal. Ullah wounded himself and three others, but no one died in the attack.
According to authorities, Ullah was inspired by ISIS and planned to detonate his bomb right in front of Christmas posters.
Bonus: December 28, St. Petersburg, Russia.
On Thursday, a bomb blast in St. Petersburg injured 13. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is running for reelection in March, claimed the attack was an act of terrorism. No group has yet claimed responsibility.
Another terrorist attack took place in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, last week, although the exact inspiration remains unknown.
As the Islamic State has mostly been defeated in the Middle East, it is tragically likely that 2018 will also be marked with terrorist attacks. Americans and others should remain vigilant.
Islamist ideology which champions terror against anyone — East or West, Muslim or non-Muslim — should be unequivocally condemned, and peaceful, patriotic, reform-minded Muslims like M. Zuhdi Jasser need to be praised. In these troubling times, it is important to remember that not all Muslims embrace terror or state-enforced Sharia (Islamic law), but also to remain vigilant against the many who do.
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