Isis has ‘direct links’ to UK terror cells
Defence secretary warns of growing threat of further Manchester-style attacks
British terrorist groups have “direct links” with the Islamic State in Afghanistan, the defence secretary has revealed.
Speaking on a visit to British troops in Afghanistan, Gavin Williamson gave the first official confirmation that the Afghan wing of the Islamist group, which is also known as IS-Khorasan or IS-K, is communicating and potentially planning attacks with cells in the UK.
He also confirmed that 440 British troops were sent to the country last month to help stabilise the political climate and neutralise the growing terrorist threat posed to Britain as well as to Afghan civilians, following a request from the US, The Independent reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The terrorist group’s grip on Afghanistan has been “weakened in recent weeks by the killing of its country head, Abu Sayed Orakzai”, according to the US military.
But Williamson warned that intelligence reports showed that Afghan-based militants were a “consistent” threat to the UK, and that in recent months there have been “countless times when there have been links back to the UK from terrorists in Afghanistan”.
“What we see is a real threat posed by these groups to the UK and we’ve got to be acting as we are to ensure that we do not see future Manchester-style attacks,” he added.
“We consistently see terrorist groups operating here in Afghanistan, [and] evidence of their links back not just to the United Kingdom but to the whole of Continental Europe.”
Last year, the UK’s national coordinator for counterterrorism policing confirmed that around half of the 850 UK jihadists who had left to fight for the Isis and its affiliates had returned to the UK.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
US-Israel rift widens after UN cease-fire resolution
Speed Read The U.S. declined to veto a U.N. resolution calling for a two-week "immediate cease-fire" in Gaza
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Four key tax changes to prepare for in April
The Explainer With time running out, a last-minute checklist could help you make the most of your allowances
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
The Red Army Faction: German fugitive arrested after decades on run
Why Everyone's Talking About Police reward and TV appeal leads to capture of Daniela Klette, now 65
By The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Ex-US diplomat confessed spying for Cuba to undercover agent, FBI says
Speed Read DOJ says former US ambassador Manuel Rocha perpetrated 'one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published