McGurk: Jihadist terrorism has reached a new level

Those who brought mass-murder to Paris were slaughtering their fellow citizens and many of their own generation

Policemen patrol the Christmas market on the Champs-Élysées. Pic: Getty

In the aftermath of major terrorist attacks, security analysts will try to identify portents usually invisible to the general public. After perhaps the worst week in French history since World War II, they have plenty to reflect on. It takes little analysis to recognise that the attacks in Paris were primarily designed to terrorise and kill as many citizens as possible. Cruelly, too, they were deliberately aimed at young people and their lifestyle ...