People hold up flowers during a candlelit vigil to mourn the victims of Manchester terror attack at Albert Square inManchester, Britain on May 23, 2017. On Monday night, a suicide terror attack took place at Manchester Arena at the end of a pop concert, killing at least 22 people, several of whom were children, while injuring 59 others. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
LONDON, May 25 (Xinhua) -- With police and security services Thursday continuing to pursue the terror gang that brought horror to Manchester, academics zoomed in for the reasons why Britain became a target.
Its role, alongside its close ally the U.S. as a superpower, a member of the coalition using RAF jets to pound ISIS locations, and even the country's vulnerability in the wake of Brexit and the snap general election, are all implicated, according to academic experts Xinhua has spoken to.
Just as importantly is what, if anything, can be done to deter or prevent younger people, outwardly looking and acting like their peers, from becoming radicalised killers and willing to blow themselves apart in the name of their cause?
Dr Imran Awan, associate professor of the Center for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, believes the brutal attack on the Manchester Arena Monday night would have been celebrated by terror groups such as ISIS as a direct hit on a super power, high on its target list.
Awan said the timing of the suicide bombing at the arena, exactly on the fourth anniversary of the slaying of British soldier Lee Rigby, was a critical factor. The British army fusilier was slaughtered in broad daylight in Britain on the afternoon of May 22, 2013 by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich in southeast London.
With Britain's terror alert now raised in its highest level of critical, Awan fears such events as the Wimbledon tennis championships could become a key target, with the potential for more strikes on July 7 also a risk. Before Manchester, the worst terror attack came on July 7, 2005 with bombings on London Underground, and a London double deck bus blown apart. What became the 7/7 bombings left more than 50 people dead.
Awan told Xinhua: "Britain has long been a target of terrorist groups along with European countries. But Britain and the U.S. as superpowers would be viewed as prized number one targets, high up on the lists of ISIS and other terror groups.
Flag flies at half mast above the Houses of Parliament after Manchester Arena bombing, in London, Britain, on May 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)
"The terrible incident in Manchester has to be seen in the context of the murder of the soldier Lee Rigby. I believe the attack in Manchester could have been made with that anniversary in mind, and planned to coincide."
Awan said the fact soldiers are now highly visible on the streets of Britain is part of the protocol with the threat level being raised.
"It is still quite rare to see soldiers on patrol duty across London and in other parts of Britain. The sight of soldiers on duty will generate media attention," he said.
"I think that each terror attack, and the response to it, needs very careful assessment. Attacks such as Manchester, understandably, generate strong public outrage.
"But we are already seeing incidents involving Muslim people. It must be remembered that Muslim people are just as likely to be victims of terrorism as anybody.
"As with the 7/7 attacks, we have seen in Manchester what appears to be a home-grown terrorist. From the very start I never thought the Manchester bomber was a lone wolf. It was clear there must have been some assistance to get to that level."
What will be difficult, says Awan will be the ability to eradicate groups such as ISIS, and the flow of people wanting to join such terror groups.
Geopolitical issues and the world we live in all come into play, says the academic.
"Will it ever end", poses Awan, "what needs to be done is to engage with young people at grassroots level, using community approaches especially within Muslim communities."
Awan has studied the reasons why many young Muslims become radicalised and asked the question what leads an individual to carry out an act on terror in Britain. He has spoken to numerous Muslims to seek the answers.
Young Muslims he quizzed referred to push and pull factors for why some of their numbers might become radicalised and travel to fight for ISIS. Reasons ranged from boredom to issues with a lack of identity and concerns over foreign policy.
Most thought social media and the internet played a key role in radicalisation, with one Muslim teen warning "all they do is go online and some preachers then tell them to come and fight for Islam"
As Awan explained: "When ISIS declared their 'caliphate' their fighters openly used Twitter to urge Muslims to travel to Syria and Iraq and shared gory and extreme videos."
One 16-year-old Muslim boy in Britain told Awan: "If people are watching these videos online then they are going to be radicalised because ISIS are using the Internet to shout out to them that we (Muslims) are being oppressed."
Some suggested young Muslims travel to fight in Syria because they are bored or looking for an adrenaline rush.
One told Awan those heading to the Middle East want some excitement in their lives, while another suggested what we are seeing really is just some young frustrated teenagers who are looking for an escape.
Professor Anthony Glees, director of the Center for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham told Xinhua: "I don't know if there is a monocausal explanation why Britain specifically was so threatened by ISIS or Al Qaeda.
"The reason headline for me is that Britain has looked vulnerable at the moment, and has looked vulnerable since the Brexit vote."
"In just a short period time we have seen the attack on Westminster and now Manchester. Islamism is like a crazed wild beast that senses weakness. It is the weak and vulnerable that are the first to be attacked in the jungle
"We had the referendum, a change of government, the premature calling of a general election and in the days preceding the Manchester bombing we had a prime minister who had to change her party manifesto. We looked as if we were all over the place and that made us vulnerable."
Glees cites another aspect for Britain being a target is its relationship with the U.S.
"We pride ourselves on being the closest ally in Europe to the U.S. We go out of our way to stress the importance. Theresa May, remember, was the first world leader to visit Trump after his inauguration. Added to that is Britain's activity in Iraq and its readiness to bomb ISIS, as well as Britain's continuation in the coalition.
Glees says the vast majority of the 3 to 4 million Muslims in Britain want nothing to do with extreme Islamism.
"But there are some who use an interpretation of Islamism to justify their actions," he added.
Glees said the government-back prevent program, which imposes a duty on college and university lecturers to report students who express strong views and may become radicalised, had proved to be controversial, Muslim leaders had called for it be scrapped, while universities were opposed to the program.
Glees wants to see a doubling of personnel working in Britain's secret service MI5 and more intelligence led policing in Britain.
Government policies have seen the number of police officers cut, with priority given to visible policing. What is more important, said Glees, were the "invisible" police, working in the background to detect and trace radicals.
Rees also believes better ways need to be found to investigate the hundreds of people who return to Britain after fighting in the Middle East war zones. It could mean many of them being placed under some form of control orders.
Will there be further terror attacks and bombings? Glees says: "We must expect further incidents to happen. In Manchester it seems there was a network, a band of brothers."
These bands of brothers, often living within closely knit communities in British towns and cities, could strike at any time, fear experts in terrorism.
