The spectrum of terror attacks

Yesterday, the UK terror threat was raised to “severe” in the wake of the attack in Liverpool.

Over the last decade, the bulk of attacks have been so-called “lone wolf” attacks. In contrast, the explosion outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital harks back to a more traditional view of terror.

Anthony Richards, a terror expert at CoJit, said while the incident appeared more sophisticated on the surface, it doesn’t signal a fundamental change.

“We have for some time now faced a threat that ranges from being quite rudimentary (such as the use of knives and vehicles) to more sophisticated attacks (such as the Manchester arena bombing in May 2017). What happened in Liverpool lies somewhere in between,” he said.

Given the number of people on MI5 watchlists, it should be “no surprise” that there is a broad spectrum of types of attacks, ranging from “the rudimentary to the more sophisticated”.