The link between Daesh, the Islamic extremist group, and a recent string of terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States is weak, said Europol on Wednesday, noting that mental illness might very well be the motivation for such lone wolf acts.
The special report on lone actor attacks - which focuses on attacks in Orlando, Florida; Magnaville, France; Nice, France; and Wuerzburg, Germany - is an addendum to the EU police agency's annual terrorism and trends report, details of which were released in May.
Europol noted that some of the individuals behind the attacks had claimed allegiance to Daesh - which had previously urged Muslims living in Western countries to launch attacks.
However, it also pointed out that, even though lone wolf attacks are a favourite of groups like al-Qaeda and Daesh, it is too early to assume these aren't attacks that would have happened anyway for which groups are claiming credit after the fact.
"Although IS has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, none of the four attacks seem to have been planned, logistically supported, or executed directly by IS, according to the information available to Europol," the agency wrote, using a common acronym for the group.
"IS has endorsed the attacks, but the perpetrators' affiliation with the group has not been clear."
Furthermore, Europol noted that around 35 per cent of individuals who launched lone wolf attacks between 2000 and 2015 suffered from some form of mental disorder, implying that some of these people might have committed crimes anyways, but chose to link them to terrorist groups to achieve greater meaning.
"Despite the fact that a number of lone actors attach religion and ideology to their acts, the role of potential mental health issues should not be overlooked," read the report.
