Britain's spy chief reveals 12 terror attacks thwarted in 2017

LONDON: Britain's intelligence leader as of late disclosed that the United Kingdom's security forces had thwarted at least 12 terrorist attacks directed in opposition to the rustic for the reason that Islamic State (ISIS) claimed strike at the British Parliament building in March remaining year.
During an address to a gathering of European intelligence chiefs in Berlin as of late, MI5 director-general Andrew Parker also warned that ISIS continues to aspire to dedicate "devastating" attacks in Europe after shedding territory in Syria and Iraq.

"Daesh (ISIS) still aspires to direct devastating and more complex attacks despite territorial losses... and threats from al-Qaida and other Islamist terror groups have not gone away," he mentioned in his speech titled 'Hybrid Threats'.

He mentioned: "Whilst Daesh has now lost its false caliphate in its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, tackling the crowd as a movement will require sustained international focal point for years to come. As I discuss as of late, they are in the hunt for to regroup, and the danger seems prone to persist.

"Islamic State have been blamed for (attacks) - that's upset a lot of al-Qaida affiliated teams who wish to get back into high-level, subtle attacks like they did with the nine/11 attacks, as a result of they see Islamic State getting the media limelight."

In December remaining year, Parker had published that 9 terrorist attacks had been averted by way of the United Kingdom's security services and products and police since 52-year-old Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians before launching a knife attack after crashing into the facet of the Parliament, killing 5 folks on March 22 remaining year. Today's up to date total of 12 brings the total number of disrupted attacks in the United Kingdom to 25 since 2013.

Against the backdrop of Brexit negotiations, the MI5 leader wired that European intelligence companies should depend on "shared cooperation greater than ever".

"I am assured about our ability to tackle these threats, as a result of the energy and resilience of our democratic programs, the resilience of our societies and the values of we percentage with our European companions," he mentioned.

"European intelligence cooperation as of late is just unrecognisable to what it gave the look of 5 years in the past," he mentioned, highlighting that there have been as many as 45 terror attacks across Europe since 2016.

Parker also took the chance to make a scathing attack on Russia for its "deliberate and centered malign process".

In his first public comments for the reason that fatal nerve agent attack in the the town of Salisbury on a former Russian secret agent and his daughter, Parker mentioned that Moscow is the usage of its spies and armed forces to carry out "flagrant breaches of international laws".

He accused the Kremlin of "pursuing an schedule thru competitive and pernicious acts by way of its military and intelligence services and products", adding that Russia risks becoming a "more remoted pariah" if it continues to behave in the way it has.

Addressing the campaign of disinformation that followed the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March, Parker mentioned there's a need "to shine a light during the fog of lies, half-truths and obfuscation that pours out of their propaganda system".

While the Russian government has denied any involvement in the attack previous this year, it's been the topic of condemnation and diplomatic sanctions from the West.