Counter-terror police and MI5 on alert for ISIS ‘copycat’ attacks

The attack in New Orleans represents a wake-up call to Britain about the possibility of further domestic terror attacks from ISIS, experts warned last night. The Islamic State flag in the pickup truck driven by Shamsud-Din Jabbar was likely a message that the terrorist group were ‘back in business,’ a security expert said. And the Prime Minister must increase vigilance about plots in the UK and secure our borders to prevent potential attackers from infiltrating Britain, former military leaders insisted. The UK terrorist threat level remains at substantial, meaning an attack is likely. ISIS, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria , gained global prominence a decade ago when its militants began conquering large swathes of land in the region.

At its peak, it enforced its extremist interpretation of Islamic law over a population of about 12million, had about 30,000 fighters and managed a budget of nearly £1billion. ISIS has perpetrated dozens devastating terror attacks outside of Iraq and Syria, including the 2015 Paris massacre, has published beheadings of journalists and aid workers and desecrated several cultural sites. A US-led coalition destroyed the group’s infrastructure between 2015 and 2019 and as many as 60,000 supporters are thought to have been killed. But thousands of ISIS supporters remain in West Asia and its influence has spread through East Africa from Mauritania to Somalia, experts said. And the group has maintained an online presence, regularly publishing propaganda and extremist messaging.

The threat from ISIS never went away entirely, and if the authorities discover direct links between the group and the perpetrators behind the US attacks then there will be ‘more to come,’ Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at Bradford University, Paul Rogers warned. ‘There is an assumption that ISIS is all gone but that is simply not the case. They never went away,’ the author of The Insecurity Trap said. The US had wiped out about 60,000 ISIS supporters in the past decade but this will have further radicalised any survivors, he warned.

‘Many of the dead had brothers, sons, fathers and friends who were further then inspired by their deaths to take action,’ Prof Rogers added. ‘And even if Jabbar (pictured) was not being directed by ISIS then it remains incredibly serious, because then we have someone who spent a decade in the US military who was sufficiently disillusioned and radicalised to have carried out such a horrific attack. If there is no direct link then there could still be many others inspired by Jabbar’s actions – and we have seen many examples of this before, like the Madrid attacks [which were Al Qaeda-inspired but not directed by the group]. If the New Orleans attack wasn’t just inspired by ISIS but actually directed by the group then this is even worse, as it would mean there is an active organisation – probably in Syria or Iraq – capable of directing lethal attacks around the world.’

Anthony Glees (Pictured), director at the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, said the attacks showed Britain must regain control of its borders or risk dangerous extremists sneaking into the country. ‘There may be people already in this country who have been ISIS fanatics but who will have felt that when the caliphate was destroyed in Syria and Iraq there was no hope for the cause,’ he said. ‘These people will now feel inspired, emboldened, and could take more action. This is another reason why we need to stop the small boats crisis. We are admitting people into the country who might be ideologically driven to cause us harm. ‘This is a major security threat.’

Terror expert Philip Ingram said there was ‘very real potential’ for copycat attacks following those in the US and the car attack in Magdeburg in Germany on December 20. And former UK army commander Colonel Hamish De Bretton-Gordon described the terrifying incidents as a ‘wake-up call for this country.’ ‘Islamic State and the jihadist threat generally has not gone away, despite the focus of the world being on saving Ukraine from the tyrant in the Kremlin,’ he added.

‘We must not drop our guard to the terror threats to this country, whatever is happening in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East. The jihadists will strike if they see any chinks in our armour. The Prime Minister needs to be reminded that defence and security of this nation should be his primary responsibility.’ The increase in threat level has also seen questions raised over what areas could prove to be targets in the event of copycat terror attacks.

Speaking to the Mirror, Chris Phillips, the former head of the National Counter Terrorism Office, said that famous landmarks across London where there are concentrated gatherings of tourists could be singled out by terrorists. In the event that a similar vehicular attack like that endured by New Orleans was to occur at one of these landmarks, the terror expert said that many are already well protected by hostile vehicle measures. However, Mr Phillips added that in trying to balance the British public’s freedoms, it becomes impossible to protect everywhere.

‘It’s impossible to protect them all from someone who can just jump into a car and drive at the public. Intelligence is the only real way to stop an attack like this, before they get into the vehicle’, he said. A spokesman from Counter Terror Policing said it was continually assessing international events to understand if there are any implications for the UK’s national security.

‘Our thoughts are with all of those affected by the horrific events in New Orleans including our US law enforcement colleagues. The terrorist threat level in the UK remains at substantial, meaning an attack is likely. Public vigilance is critical to our efforts to keep our communities safe and we continue to ask people to report anything that doesn’t feel right to police. Always call 999 in an emergency’, the spokesman said.

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