At least 350 British jihadis
are back in the UK after fighting and plotting terror attacks in the ISIS - 'braincell'
of Syria, the government warned today.
Spy agencies and the police
are concerned about as many as 700 people from the UK who have travelled to the
region since the start of the conflict, and around half have returned to
Britain.
Ministers today warned that
there were more jihadis in Syria orchestrating atrocities in the UK, Australia
and the United States after it emerged Briton Reyaad Khan was killed in an RAF
drone strike.
Around half of the 700
people from Britain who have travelled to Syria are now back in the UK and 'of
concern' to security agencies.
Police and security agencies
have warned of the growing threat posed to Britain from UK nationals who have
joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq later returning home to wreak havoc on our
streets.
In statement published
today, Home Office minister James Brokenshire revealed the scale of the
challenge intelligence agencies face.
'He said: 'We are aware of
around 700 people from the UK who are of concern to the police and security
services and who are thought to have travelled to the region since the start of
the conflict.
'We estimate that around
half of those have returned.'
Prime Minister David Cameron
yesterday told MPs that six terror attacks on Britain have been foiled since
the start of 2015.
Defence Secretary Michael
Fallon issued a stark warning that there are more than 'two or three' ISIS
militants in Syria were still plotting 'extremely dangerous' terror attacks on
the streets of Britain, targeting public events and the armed forces with the
intention to kill.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme: 'It's extremely dangerous. These are attacks are being planned
against major public events on our streets, and potential attacks on members of
our armed forces and others, which would be extremely dangerous. The government
has a duty to deal with it.
These are attacks are being
planned against major public events on our streets, and potential attacks on
members of our armed forces
Defence Secretary Michael
Fallon
'There's a group of people
who are planning armed attacks on our streets and to disrupt major public
events. Our job is to identify who they are, track them down, and if there's no
other way to counter these strikes we'll take action.'
Mr Cameron stunned the House
of Commons yesterday with the revelation that for the first time in modern
history the UK had carried out a military strike in a foreign country outside
of a war.
The Prime Minister told MPs
that Khan, who is believed to have arrived in Syria in 2013, was behind
murderous plots on the streets of Britain and there was 'no other means to stop
him'.
The strike against him was
authorised by Mr Fallon at a meeting of the National Security Council to
prevent what Mr Cameron called a 'very real threat to our country'.
Two other ISIS militants,
including British national Ruhul Amin, were also killed in the attack on Khan
on August 21. No civilians died.
Defence Secretary Michael
Fallon issued a stark warning that there are more than 'two or three' ISIS
militants in Syria were still plotting 'extremely dangerous' terror attacks on the
streets of Britain.
'This action was absolutely
legal providing it was necessary and proportionate,' he told ITV's Good Morning
Britain.
'There was no other way of
dealing with these particular terrorists, they weren't going to come back to
this country to be prosecuted or stand trial.
'There was no other way of
preventing the kind of armed attack they were involved in planning.
'Any country has the right
to defend itself from an armed attack and that's what we did.'
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