Over the past several months, grassroots jihadists launched an unusually high number of attacks against Western targets. Most of these attacks were in response to the Islamic State's repeated requests for individuals to carry out strikes abroad, though it is worth noting that the perpetrators of the shooting at the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were grassroots supporters of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . While most of these attacks were comparatively limited in impact, their frequency and ability to generate heavy media coverage have put Western security and police agencies on edge. In response, security forces have stepped up their efforts to identify, locate and, if possible, arrest grassroots jihadists before they can emigrate to join the Islamic State on the battlefield or conduct domestic attacks at the group's behest. Security and police agencies are increasingly relying on the sting operation to mitigate these threats.