TerrorismHundreds of Britons are terror-training in Syria, making attack on U.K. “inevitable”
Thousands of foreign fighters, including hundreds of Britons, are now in Syria, fighting with rebel forces against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Security experts say that the danger faced by Britain and other countries from jihadist fighters returning from Syria is “unprecedented,” and that a terror attack on British soil by one or more British Muslims returning from Syria is “inevitable.” “All the reports I have seen suggest that it is becoming increasingly acute,” said Gilles de Kerchove, the EU’s counterterrorism coordinator. “National budgets devoted to counter-terrorism are declining across the EU. Yet the threat that we face is becoming more diverse, more diffuse, and more unpredictable.”
Thousands of foreign fighters, including hundreds of Britons, are now in Syria, fighting with rebel forces against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Security experts say that the danger faced by Britain and other countries from jihadist fighters returning from Syria is “unprecedented,” and that a terror attack on British soil by one or more British Muslims returning from Syria is “inevitable.”
Gilles de Kerchove, the EU’s counterterrorism coordinator, informed the relevant agencies of EU countries that these jihadi supporters are gaining “combat experience and forging connections with extremists.” As a result they could “return radicalized” and “seek to carry out attacks against the West.”
The Independent reports that these warnings were included in written evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry on counterterrorism.
“All the reports I have seen suggest that it is becoming increasingly acute,” de Kerchove added. “National budgets devoted to counter-terrorism are declining across the EU. Yet the threat that we face is becoming more diverse, more diffuse, and more unpredictable.”
The problem is not confined to Syria. Africa is now a “particular” concern, since “the terrorism threat is growing and becoming a major obstacle to development”, de Kerchove warned.
He is calling for “concerted and coordinated action” by European countries to “avoid destabilization … and the establishment of terrorist safe havens”. He added: “We should be investing a lot more in counter-terrorism work, including externally, if we are to prevent or mitigate future terrorist attacks.”
More needed to be done to “counteract more effectively the use of the internet and social media for radicalization and recruitment purposes” and to “identify and detect” foreign fighters, he said.
The EU counterterror chief commends Britain for having developed “one of the best communication campaigns, which not only raises awareness of the phenomenon and the possible risks related to it, but also offers an alternative to those who want to go to Syria for humanitarian reasons.”
Countries need to share intelligence because “it is not inconceivable that a foreign fighter could return to his home country with the intention of joining former comrades for an attack in another.”
The Independent notes that terror experts agree with de Kerchove’s analysis and warnings, as they prepare for a talk on foreign fighters to be hosted by the Chatham House think-tank on Thursday (“Foreign Fighters in Syria: A Threat at Home and Abroad?”).
The number of fighters means they are “almost impossible to monitor,” Richard Barrett, the former head of counterterrorism at MI6, told the Independent on Sunday. Many will return and not be a problem, but some will come back “radicalized and a real danger to society,” he said.
He noted that simply arresting people returning from Syria was a “knee-jerk reaction” and that such heavy-handed treatment by the police risked radicalizing people.
“I was a bit horrified to see a few weeks back some chief constable was saying all these guys should be locked up, and I think already 16 people have been arrested who have come back from Syria. Maybe there was good reason for that. But how you treat people is really important. There is a balance to be struck, where you do not mistreat people on the one hand, but do not overlook people who are a threat [either].”
Raffaello Pantucci, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said: “It seems almost inevitable that some sort of a threat back to the U.K. will come off the battlefield in Syria, something supported by the fact that security services in the U.K. believe they have already disrupted at least one plot with links to Syria.”
A Home Office spokesman said in a statement that “The U.K. advises against all travel to Syria. Even people travelling for well-intentioned humanitarian reasons are exposing themselves to serious risk, including being targeted for recruitment by terrorist groups.”
He added: “The police and security services are actively working to detect and disrupt any terrorist threat from Syria and individuals who travel there.
“People thinking about travelling to Syria to engage in terrorist activity should be in no doubt that we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security.”
