Maryse Godden, The Sun, September 13, 2016

An Islam expert has warned of a civil war across Europe as more young Muslims are being increasingly radicalised.

Professor Gilles Kepel, from the Sciences Po in Paris, claims a growing number of Muslims with poor job prospects are forming a “Jihad Generation” to continue to commit acts of terror across Europe.

According to German newspaper Die Welt, Kepel said the terror group’s aim is to incite hatred towards Muslims from the rest of the society which would eventually radicalise others to the point that Europe could enter into full-blown civil war.

Kepel, who is a specialist on Islamic and contemporary Arab world, added these ISIS fanatics not only want to destroy Europe, but to eliminate more moderate Islamic opposition.

“The terrorism is above all an expression of a war within Islam,” he explained. “The long-term goal of the Jihad Generation is to destroy Europe through civil war and then build an Islamic society from the ashes.

He believes their strategy is similar to the expansion of Islamic State in Syria, Iraq, and Libya where the terrorist organisation was able to use the chaos of civil war to slowly build its forces, grow in power, and rapidly seize territory.

His comments come after French Prime Minister Manuel Valls revealed that 15,000 radicalised people are on police watchlist in the country.

Previously authorities said about 10,000 were identified as high-risk.

Valls warned: “There will be new attacks, there will be innocent victims . . . this is also my role to tell this truth to the French people.”

Paris has been on edge since a car loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral in an incident that could have been an attack, last week.

French anti-terror judges charged a woman over the failed assault.