It would seem that Muslim fanatics in Europe have got the upper hand.

The Paris shooting spree, where innocent people were murdered by these so-called Islamic terrorists, and the red alert activated in Britain for possible further outrages by jihadi fanatics, highlight the new reality of Islamist terrorism in Europe.

These highly-trained attackers learned and perfected their skills in Europe, in a permissive environment, under our own eyes.

This is where plots are devised and developed using unsophisticated methods, Kalashnikov rifles and grenades.

The technical proficiency displayed by the gunmen in the Paris attack was not at all desperate or amateurish. There was no anxiety or indiscriminate shooting but rather a perfect military-style formation with calm precision, unlike the attacks in Australia, Canada and Belgium, which were staged in a hurry, anxiously and by shooting indiscriminately.

These terrorists are well organised and they hold territory in a number of countries around the globe, namely in Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and now even in Libya.

Not so long ago, Al Qaeda issued a ‘kill list’ that identified targets for the so-called ‘‘crimes against Islam”. The editor of Charlie Hebdo was among those named.

Britain, France and the US have long feared this type of attack, precisely because it is so hard to detect and contain. It is less dramatic than a bomb attack but it is just as deadly and terrifying and so much easier to plan.

As the conflict in Syria rages on and no one lifts a finger to do anything, the Paris attack will sadly characterise the form of terrorism we can expect in Europe for years to come.