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ISIS ‘lone wolves’ will attack Britain in MONTHS – and UK likely to raise threat level, warn terror experts
Watch our interview with two leading counter terror experts
LONE "gangster jihadis" could attack the UK this summer - and Britain could increase its threat level, counter terror experts have warned.
Former head of UK Counter Terrorism Chris Phillips told The Sun that there is a "very real threat" of an attack on UK soil in the coming months.
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The Sun warned in February that the West could be facing a new "War on Terror" as rampant Islamic extremists gear up to exploit chaos in the Middle East.
In recent weeks ISIS have resurfaced in Europe and the US in a concerning escalation putting British counter-terror experts on high alert.
Chris said "a terrorist attack is likely" - and warned of the threat posed by ISIS lone wolves, or "radicalised individuals".
And Will Geddes, a leading counter terror expert, said he would not be surprised if our terror threat level increases.
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He told The Sun: "I would be remarkably surprised if we did not see a terrorist attack on UK or on European soil, certainly in the next few months."
Just days ago, the bloodthirsty death cult threatened to attack four stadiums in London, Madrid and Paris during the Champions League quarter finals.
The infamous terror group's twisted PR arm put out a disturbing message which vowed to "kill them all", including those at London's Emirates Stadium.
Weeks ago in Moscow, four ISIS-K gunmen unleashed gunfire on concert-goers, slaughtering over 140 and publishing horrific videos of their deaths.
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And this week several radicalised teenagers in Germany and the US were arrested for planned terror attacks on churches in the name of ISIS.
Chris told The Sun: "A terrorism attack is likely... it is very likely.
"I think you have to understand the sheer numbers of people that hold these extreme views."
He said the Champions League threat was ISIS "trying to put themselves back on the map", and a "call to arms" for extremist individuals.
Chris believes the biggest risk Britain faces is posed by lone "gangster jihadis" - or radicalised individuals released from UK prisons.
A terrorism attack is likely... it is very likely
Chris Phillips, former UK counter terror chief
The Moscow attack, Chris explains, was "like a signal to people within Europe... 'we're still here, this is what we want you to do when you get the opportunity to go and do it'."
He added: "It's kind of a call to arms. I think the the biggest concern is not necessarily as we saw in Moscow, a group of people... with guns and firearms.
"It's much more around individuals, who are already radicalised, some of whom are being released from prison, by the way, which I think is a huge threat."
He explains that without easy access to weaponry in the UK, those individuals can make connections with organised criminals in jail, equipping them for later attacks.
"I think that mixture of people who are terrorists mixing with gang gang members and gun runners is a really quite a scary prospect for the next 10 to 15 years," he said.
"Those people do commit terror again."
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On high alert
Will, a leading security analyst, told The Sun that the UK threat level could well increase in the coming months.
He said he would be "remarkably surprised" if there wasn't a terror attack on UK or European soil in the next few months.
Will warned: "I have a horrible feeling in my gut that we are in a similar period to where we were pre-2017, which was a notable year of a number of different attacks from Borough Market to Westminster Bridge.
"I would not be that surprised if our threat level increases."
Speaking of the ISIS threat against the Champions League quarter-finals this week, Will explained that such threats have been happening more frequently recently.
I would be remarkably surprised if we did not see a terrorist attack on UK or on European soil, certainly in the next few months
Will Geddes
While nothing has come of the threats, he explained it's important to remain alert.
"They've [ISIS] had a number of incidents recently where they have made those statements and nothing has subsequently followed," he said.
"Now that doesn't mean people haven't tried. It means that we've been successful in thwarting it."
Although it may feel that those threats give us "early warning" and a security advantage, Will urged: "We must never forget they can strike whenever they feel like it."
Speaking of the London attacks in 2017, Will told The Sun: "These were all events which hit us consecutively, and I hope that individuals are not being complacent about the risk.
"The threat has not gone away."
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Thwarted attacks
Last year the British government released a report on terrorism which said the "threat to the UK is unrelenting and evolving".
They said in just four years, 39 large-scale terrorist plots had been thwarted on UK soil - but warned that the threat is on the rise.
The current UK threat level, measured by MI5 and Counter Terror intelligence, sits at "substantial" which means an attack is likely.
The next level would be "severe", making an attack highly likely.
In October last year the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, told Sky that intelligence officers are "focused with particular intensity" on a rising risk of attacks on British soil amid conflict in the Middle East.
He said particular concern was being paid to Islamist extremism, among other actors.
Chris told The Sun that UK Counter Terrorism is picking up chatter and acting on it, thwarting most attacks before they can happen.
"They're monitoring it well enough to actually put the stops in," he said.
"Which is why I think we haven't had the big attacks, so they're getting the intelligence."
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ISIS attacks on the rise
In March, ISIS launched a rampage in Moscow - the worst Islamic extremist terror attack in Europe to date.
German cops this week discovered a terrifying underground cell of teens gearing up to attack churches and police stations in the name of ISIS, Bild reports.
And a teenager who pledged support to ISIS was arrested just days ago in Idaho for similar alleged plans to attack churches with knives, fire and guns.
SITE Intelligence, which monitors global terrorist activity, reported a pro-ISIS cell calling for drone strikes on the Champions League stadiums this week.
It also shared intelligence about an ISIS supporter suggesting hostages should be taken from inside Western schools in order to negotiate for the release of extremists.
And SITE has seen an overall increase in ISIS attacks from inside Iraq sparked by the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.
Rita Katz, founder of SITE and a worldwide terrorism expert, told the Washington Post that operations like the Moscow attack are designed to send "a message to the world that it remains a relevant, deadly threat".
Who are ISIS?
ISIS, also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is a murderous terrorist network that officially formed in 2004.
The group, known for its barbaric public executions and beheadings, was originally part of al-Qaeda - the terrorists responsible for 9/11 which sparked the decades-long global War on Terror.
They took advantage of instability in Iraq and Syria after 2000 to rule with an iron fist.
After an injection of American troops into Iraq in 2007, ISIS lost some of its power grip in the region.
But it began to reemerge in 2011 and by 2014 the US had formed Operation Inherent Resolve.
The mission involved putting American boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria - as well as other regions in the Middle East.
In 2014, ISIS was the most powerful, best-equipped and wealthiest Islamic extremist group the world had ever seen.
By 2015 it had branches operating in at least eight other countries.
That October, their Egypt network bombed a Russian plane and killed over 220 people.
In November 2015, 130 were murdered and over 300 injured during one of their most brutal attacks on the West in Paris.
And in June 2016, a gunman who pledged himself to the murderous organisation killed at least 48 people at a nightclub in Florida.
By December 2017, ISIS had lost 95 per cent of it’s stolen territory.
But its core ideologies, which included a burning hatred for the Western way of life, continued to inspire countless terrorist attacks around the world.
While American combat in Iraq was officially axed in December 2021, 2,500 troops were left stationed there to work as advisers and trainers for Iraqi security forces trying to fend off extremist forces.
There are believed to be less than 1,000 still stationed in Syria.
Three of those American troops were killed in Jordan on January 28 - in a drone attack at a US military base near the Syrian and Iraq borders.
Attacks in Europe
Both Will and Chris told The Sun the Paris Olympics this summer is an obvious target for terrorists looking to hit Europe.
France announced that it's terror threat level was raised to the highest marker after the Moscow attack - meaning an attack is "imminent".
Chris told The Sun: "Paris Olympics is an obvious target.
"Probably not at the stadiums themselves. More likely, you know, the marathons, the tube and the train network, which are going to be less protected than the games.
"I think if I was Paris and if I was France, I would you know, they are very concerned about the the the threat of terrorism.
"It's worth talking about the Olympics as being, you know, almost like the best target for terrorists in France.
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"And there are so many of them in France that, you know, I don't think they're managing them as well as we do.
"The Paris Olympics must be causing huge concerns for the French government."
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