Editorial: Keeping Europe safe a hard job

A metro train damaged by an explosion on the Brussels Metro.

A feeling of dread always rises when one switches on CNN or BBC TV channels to see the ticker at the bottom of the screen telling you that more people have been killed in an explosion.

The latest was in Brussels where Islamic State terrorists killed at least 34 people and wounded scores of others in back-to-back bombings of the Brussels airport and subway this week.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks which came after the arrest on Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November 13 attacks in Paris. European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike.

There was much talk on television and online yesterday morning about this being a war and certainly it is hard to argue with that.

There seems to be an endless supply of people who are prepared to blow themselves up for their radical cause.

All these terrorist cells seem to operate independently of each other and so it does not stop further attacks if one cell is closed down. It makes keeping a continent like Europe very difficult to keep secure when you never know where and when someone who is prepared to die for their cause will strike.

The one thing that is certain is that every effort must be made to stop these attacks and countries need to work together to do so.

Unfortunately, it is looking increasingly likely that things will get worse before they get better.

We need to stand against the violence and terrorism.