The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2021 provides figures on terrorist attacks and terrorism-related arrests in the European Union (EU) in 2020. The report notes that CBRN materials were used in attacks, sometimes in transnational contexts. In September 2020, envelopes containing ricin, which remains the preferred toxin for committing attacks, were sent from Canada to several authorities in the USA. In August, Russian citizen Alexei Navalny was hospitalised after showing symptoms of exposure to hazardous material. The presence of a chemical warfare agent (Novichok) was confirmed. The report draws attention to the fact that the use of CBRN substances implies a risk of collateral damage. For example, in the case in 2018 in Salisbury (UK) when Novichok was used against Sergei and Yulia Skripal, several persons who came into contact with the nerve agent suffered injuries and one person died.
The full text of the report is available here.
Source: EUROPOL
Image: Pixabay
