The five bloodiest far-right terrorist attacks in Europe
Far-right terrorist attacks have increased by 320 percent over the last five years alone throughout Europe, North America and Oceania.
Neo-Nazi mob burns wooden Swastikas and chants far-right slogans.
Islamophobia, xenophobia and the rise of the far-right in Europe have resulted in a wide spate of bloody terror attacks targeting Muslims and immigrants.
While there are too many to count, we’ve listed some of the deadliest, most recent attacks to give context to how commonplace they have become.
Flowers are set in front of a hookah lounge where several people were killed late Wednesday in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020.
1. Hanau, Germany
A caucasian male gunman shot nine people dead at two predominantly-Turkish shisha lounges in a southwestern German city on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. A letter he left behind expressed right-wing views, according to German newspaper Bild.
The gunman's remains along with one other body were found at his apartment in Hanau, police said on Thursday. The second victim at his apartment was reportedly his mother.
German officials recorded more than 70 attacks on mosques from 2012 to 2014. In 2016 alone, 91 mosques were attacked, with only one arrest made in connection.
On October 9, 2019, a mass shooting took place near a synagogue and kebab stand in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, leaving 2 dead and 2 others injured. Stephan Balliet, the gunman carried out the attack due to anti-Semitic, antifeminist and racist beliefs which he live-streamed for 35 minutes.
Ambulance staff take a man from outside a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, March 15, 2019.
2. Oslo, Norway
On 22 July 2011, Norwegian neo-Nazi and fascist Anders Behring Breivik carried out the 2011 Norway terror attacks. He first bombed several government buildings in Oslo, killing eight and injuring more than 200.
After the bombings, he went to Utoya island in a fake police uniform and began firing on people attending a political youth camp for the Worker's Youth League (AUF), a left-wing political party, killing 69 and injuring more than 110.
Overall, he killed 77 and injured at least 319. Anders Behring Breivik had written a manifesto, ‘2083: A European Declaration of Independence’ in which he accused Islam, multiculturalism, feminism and liberalism as a cause for the "cultural suicide" of Europe. He also claimed to belong to the Knights Templar, a historical organisation that fought successive Crusades against Muslims.
His actions would inspire Philip Manshaus who attacked the Al Noor Islamic Centre in Baerum, on the outskirts of Oslo, on August 10, 2019. Police would find that Manshaus held "far-right" and "anti-immigrant" views.
Anton Lundin Pettersson, photographed in the corridors of the school minutes before he began his attack by a student who thought he was a Halloween attraction.
3. Trollhättan, Sweden
On 22 October 2015, a masked swordsman killed two and wounded another at Kronan School in Trollhattan. The attacker was 21-year-old Anton Lundin Pettersson, who targeted the school due to its high immigrant population. He would later be shot and killed by police in a stand-off. It remains the deadliest attack on a school in Swedish history. A teacher stabbed during the incident died of his injuries months later, raising the death toll to 3.
Luca Traini injured six people in a shooting rampage in February.
4. Macerata, Italy
In February 2018, neo-Nazi Lega Nord member Luca Traini shot and injured 6 African migrants in the town of Macerata. He also targeted the local headquarters of the ruling Italian Democratic Party. Following the attack, Traini wore an Italian flag around his shoulders, and raised his arm in a facist salute.
In the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, Luca Traini’s name was written on one of the weapon clips, as a possible inspiration.
Darren Osborne was described as a "ticking time bomb" who became convinced that all Muslims were extremists or rapists in pedophile gangs after watching a television show on child exploitation in north-central England. The allegations came during the trial Monday of 48-year-old Darren Osborne, who is accused driving his van into a crowd of worshippers attending Ramadan prayers.
5. London, United Kingdom
In June 2017, Darren Osborne drove a van at high-speed into a crowd leaving a mosque in Finsbury Park, killing one and injuring nine others. Darren Osborne was introduced to far-right publications from the English Defence League and Britain First Party (BF). The attack was classified as a homegrown terrorist attack.
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