On 27 May, Europol coordinated a Referral Action Day (RAD) on minors’ exploitation and radicalisation online.
More than 2 000 links pointing to jihadist and right-wing violent extremist and terrorist propaganda targeting minors were referred during the action day. The referral day took place only a few weeks after Europol launched a new Operational Taskforce to tackle the rising trend of recruiting young perpetrators into serious and organised crime. Recent data provided to Europol reveals that minors are now involved in over 70% of criminal markets. Protecting children from being recruited and exploited by criminal networks is one of Europol’s key priorities.
Read more…
Source: Europol
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- UNODC Organizes Expert Group Meeting to Standardize Procedures on Evidence Collection in Terrorism-related Incidents in Remote Border Areas in Bénin
January 13, 2026
Northern Benin faces growing security challenges as terrorist groups exploit remote border areas to carry out attacks against civilians and security forces, including incidents involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs). While military operations have strengthened security in these regions, significant gaps remain in ensuring that evidence collected during counter-terrorism interventions is admissible before national courts. Limited access ...
- U.S. DOJ: Former U.S. Navy SEAL Convicted of Transporting Explosives to Throw at Law Enforcement at California Protests
January 12, 2026
ALBUQUERQUE – After a five-day jury trial and approximately three hours of deliberation, a federal jury convicted Gregory Vandenberg, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, of intending to use explosives against law enforcement officers at the June 14, 2025, “No Kings Day” protests in California. According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on Thursday, June ...
- Iran says over 100 officers killed as protesters defy government crackdown
January 11, 2026
Iran’s state media say dozens of members of the security forces have been killed during protests against an economic crisis, as the parliament speaker warns the United States and Israel of retaliatory strikes if Washington attacks the country. State television said on Sunday that 30 members of the police and security forces were killed in Isfahan ...
- Ohio man charged with possessing explosives
January 10, 2026
Loud explosions in Guernsey County prompted multiple law enforcement agencies to descend upon a home just south of Cambridge this week. According to the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office, multiple agencies were called to the area of Campbell Street, in Cambridge Township outside of city limits, just before 11 p.m. Monday. Authorities were responding to reports of explosions ...
- Ukraine: $70M in Taxpayer Money Stolen by Land Mine Company
January 9, 2026
A Ukrainian company contracted to manufacture critically needed land- and anti-personnel mines for the front pocketed nearly Hr.3 billion ($69.8 million) in taxpayer money and instead sent small volumes of munitions that frequently failed to function and sometimes blew up as troops handled them, a senior Kyiv law enforcement official announced Friday. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan ...
- Oregon: St.Helens man arrested, faces charges related to Sunset Beach explosive
January 9, 2026
Police have arrested a man in connection with an explosive device discovered at a public restroom on Oregon’s North Coast last September. Oregon State Police arrested James Mason Liggett, 52, of St. Helens in Grants Pass on Sunday. Liggett was wanted on charges of attempted murder, attempted assault in the first and second degree, first degree ...
- Somalia’s fight against extremist militants shows signs of success on the streets of Mogadishu
January 8, 2026
Mogadishu’s first line of defense against the next militant attack on Somalia ’s capital ranges from machine gunners in pick-up trucks to young men in plainclothes manning checkpoints. One of the leaders is Abdikani Ali Mohamed, a teenage-faced colonel whose authority has grown in the city as Somalia’s government tries to dismantle al-Shabab networks. Mohamed’s operatives ...
- German prosecutors launch terrorism probe into far-left attack behind Berlin blackout
January 6, 2026
A far-left group claimed responsibility for an arson attack on Berlin’s power grid, causing a blackout for tens of thousands of households. Repairs are expected by Thursday. German federal prosecutors on Tuesday launched an investigation on terrorism charges into an arson attack on high-voltage cables that caused a power blackout impacting 45,000 Berlin households. The service ...
- North Carolina: FBI Disrupts Alleged New Year’s Eve Attack, Man Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS
January 2, 2026
Today, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced that a Mint Hill, North Carolina man that allegedly planned to use knives and hammers to execute a deadly New Year’s Eve attack at a grocery store and a fast food restaurant in support of the Islamic State ...
- Pakistan: ‘Drone swarms’ tested Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police limits in 2025
January 2, 2026
As unmanned aerial vehicles — or drones — become ubiquitous in modern battlefields, their use by militants in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has given them an apparent edge over the police, who are currently using anti-drone technology to intercept ‘swarms’ of quadcopters. After years of reliance on suicide bombers, gun-and-bomb attacks, and improvised explosive ...
- South Africa: Live ammunition and explosives found in Benoni Wendy house
January 2, 2026
A tip-off led the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) and the South African Police Service (Saps) to uncover live ammunition and explosives in a Benoni guest house Wendy house. The EMPD Community Liaison Unit (CLU) officers and the K9 Unit officers, in collaboration with the Saps Explosive Unit officers, uncovered live ammunition and explosives in the ...
- Italy: Unexploded bomb found on the street in Olbia
January 2, 2026
A “pipe bomb” was found this morning on the edge of the roadway of a street in the center of Olbia . A citizen reported its presence and called 112 to alert the police. When the Carabinieri officers arrived on the scene, they determined that it was a remnant from New Year’s Eve, most likely an ...
- Pakistan sees 34 percent increase in terrorism in 2025
January 2, 2026
Terrorism in Pakistan rose by 34 percent in 2025, despite record counter-militancy operations that resulted in the killing of 1,313 militants in military actions and armed clashes with security forces. An additional 602 militants were killed in retaliatory fire by law enforcement personnel following attacks, during attempted infiltrations from Afghanistan, and in other failed or ...
- Nigeria: Suspected suicide bomber arrested, IED materials seized in Borno
January 1, 2026
The Joint Task Force North-East, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), has arrested a suspected suicide bomber and recovered materials used in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Bama Local Council of Borno State. The arrest followed sustained joint operations based on credible intelligence by troops of the 152 Task Force Battalion, working with other security agencies to ...
- UK: Teenager detained on mental health grounds after suspected ‘modified fireworks’ found in Blackpool.
January 1, 2026
The 16-year-old from Blackpool was earlier arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, but has now been detained under the Mental Health Act following a further assessment. It comes after police found a quantity of items of concern after attending an address on Gloucester Avenue at about 11.30am yesterday (Wednesday, December 31). Read more… Source: The ...
- Nigeria: 30 gunmen stormed, bombed police facility in Ondo
January 1, 2026
Following an attack on the Divisional Police Station in the Ipele community, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, the police command in the state has disclosed that the attack was carried out by 30 gunmen on New Year eve. According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Jimoh Abayomi, the gunmen who were ...
- India: 150 kg of ammonium nitrate seized in Rajasthan’s Tonk
December 31, 2025
The Rajasthan Police on Wednesday recovered a large quantity of explosive material, including 150 kg of ammonium nitrate hidden in sacks, from a Maruti Ciaz car after intercepting the vehicle during patrolling in the Tonk district, as per news agency PTI. Two people were arrested in connection with the seizure and are being questioned. Police said ...
- Texas man arrested, accused of funding, supplying bomb materials to ISIS
December 30, 2025
A 21-year-old Texas man has been charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS after allegedly delivering bomb-making components and cash to undercover agents he believed were members of the terrorist organization, federal authorities announced Monday. John Michael Garza Jr., of Midlothian, was arrested Dec. 22 shortly after meeting with an undercover FBI agent. According ...
- Turkey: Three police officers, six Islamic State militants killed in clash amid national crackdown
December 29, 2025
Three Turkish police officers and six Islamic State militants were killed in a gunfight in northwest Turkey on Monday, the Interior Minister said, a week after more than 100 suspected IS members were detained for planning Christmas and New Year attacks. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said eight police and another security force member were wounded in ...
- Washington DC: Pipe bomb suspect told FBI he targeted US political parties because they were ‘in charge’
December 29, 2025
The man accused of placing two pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol told investigators after his arrest that he believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen and that he wanted to target the country’s political parties ...
- Iraq: Counter-Terrorism Service arrests five terrorists across three provinces
December 28, 2025
Iraq Counter-Terrorism Service-ICTS said on Sunday it had arrested five terrorists in operations carried out across three provinces. In a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), ICTS said the arrests were part of ongoing efforts to enhance national security and pursue terrorist members. The operations were conducted based on judicial warrants, precise intelligence and ...
- Netherlands: Resident arrested after explosive material found in Lichtenvoorde
December 27, 2025
Authorities evacuated around fifty homes Friday afternoon after explosive material was discovered in a Lichtenvoorde residence. Police also arrested a resident of the property. The discovery triggered an immediate response from local police, the fire department, and the Explosieven Opruimingsdienst Defensie (EOD), the Dutch military’s bomb disposal unit. The EOD later detonated the explosives outside Lichtenvoorde, ...
