The United Kingdom is under a potential threat, with the country’s intelligence reports uncovering plots by extremist groups, ISIS and Al-Qaeda, to carry out terror attacks. The alarming revelation comes as these organisations reportedly account for the bulk of the workload of the British intelligence community, MI5, according to a government warning due for release today.
The country’s Home Secretary, Suwela Braverman, is expected to present an updated version of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, which hasn’t been revised in five years. In her address, she will underscore that the terror threat from Islamic extremist groups remains the “most severe” in the UK, with British intelligence dedicating three-quarters of its effort to counter this menace.
Currently, the UK’s counter-terrorism police are conducting nearly 800 live investigations. Last year alone, 169 individuals were arrested for terrorism-related offences. Over the past six years, intelligence agencies and law enforcement have thwarted 39 terrorist attacks in advanced stages of planning, most of which were driven by Islamic ideologies. Two such attacks were averted in the last seven months.
The Home Secretary will further expound on how the rise in extremist activity has made tracking and investigation more challenging, with online platforms becoming a breeding ground for plotting attacks.
Braverman will also shed light on the increasing threats posed by nations like Russia that exploit terrorism to sow discord in the UK. She will caution that “terrorist narratives are also being exploited by hostile actors like Russia, who seek to amplify divisive and polarising narratives in the West”.
Recently, Iraqi security forces warned British intelligence agencies of an ISIS plan to launch a “major attack” on a public gathering in the UK. Brigadier General Abdul-Wahab Al-Saadi, a senior counter-terrorism officer in Iraq, revealed that his men uncovered the international conspiracy and stated, “We discovered that the UK is the next target outside of Iraq.”
A government source told The Times, “This is the first report of its kind in five years and is a comprehensive update of the UK’s response against terrorism. It deals with the divisions within ISIS and Al-Qaeda that pose a different threat to our people. State actors like Russia and Iran will increasingly try to exploit terrorism here in the UK. We cannot be complacent; terrorists are evolving, and we must stay vigilant.”
The Labour party is also anticipated to announce its plans to curb the spread of terrorism. Yvette Cooper will announce the party’s plan to pass new legislation aimed at preventing extremist groups from training AI chatbots to propagate terrorism. She will argue that there are loopholes in the current legislation banning the encouragement of terrorism, as it is challenging to assign responsibility when AI is used.
