An ISIS plot to carry out a large-scale atrocity in the UK using British terrorists has been uncovered by Iraqi intelligence officials.
The plot came to light after a unit – called the Golden Division – attacked a cell of ISIS fanatics hiding in the desert, Iraq.This was announced by the chief counter-terrorism, General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi.
The general said the Islamic State terrorists were British and had planned a “major attack” on a large public gathering.
Al-Saadi leads his troops as they prepare for their next SAS-style advance on the terror group, also known as Daesh. The Mirror reports.
The general said: ‘We have discovered that the UK is the next target outside Iraq.
Islamic State terrorists based in Britain have been planning an atrocity at a large public gathering, according to Iraqi counter-terrorism chief General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi.
The Iraqi counter-terrorism agency, also known as the Gold Division, discovered the international plot after killing a cell of militants in a desert hideout a few days ago
“In recent weeks, we have launched major operations against Daesh or Islamic State and killed large numbers of terrorists. In one attack, there were about five of them, all quite high-ranking,” General al-Saadi said.
“I can tell you that from the information we found at the scene of one of our recent raids, the next planned terror attack will be in the UK.”
The general described the members of the cell as British citizens and added that the material is now in the hands of British secret services.
He added: “We have evidence that terrorists here are in contact with extremists in the UK and they are conspiring.
“I can’t say what form the attack they want to launch will take, as it could be a car, a knife, a gun, or a bomb.”
The general added that the cell wants to maximize their attack “in public” and that the group’s “four priority” countries in Europe are the UK, France, Belgium and Germany.
The general spoke as his troops practiced maneuvers in the 46-degree heat at Baghdad airport.
Members of the Iraqi Federal Police take cover as smoke billows from a large explosion
Exercises included soldiers storming a fake shelter, using helicopters, and practicing with 20 armored cars and machine guns.
Formed from the remnants of al-Quaeda, Islamic State has claimed thousands of lives — including dozens of British citizens — in its ruthless crusade to create a caliphate.
The group conquered large parts of Iraqi territory in 2014 and seized on the turmoil of the civil war to also take control of parts of eastern Syria.
At the end of 2015, an estimated eight to 12 million people lived within the borders of the Islamic State, where it enforced its barbaric interpretation of Islamic law and became notorious for widespread human rights violations.
Since then, the group has been pushed back, and by 2019 it had lost the last of its Middle Eastern territories and had instead become an insurgency again.
The group was led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during its most prominent years (2013 to 2019) before detonating a suicide vest as US forces closed in around him. Since then, several of its leaders have committed suicide or died in combat.
Iraq is eager to announce that IS has fled from within its borders and is throwing resources at the remaining factions of the terror group.
On Sunday, an Iraqi soldier and an officer were wounded in a counter-terror attack that also killed three suspected Islamic State fighters, Baghdad security forces said.
The military operation in Kirkuk province, north of the Iraqi capital, targeted “three figures of the Daesh terror group in the Turkelan region,” the security forces said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for IS jihadists. After the suspected IS members were identified, Iraqi forces approached and a clash broke out.
Iraqi counter-terrorism teams conduct exercise, including hostage rescue scenarios
The jihadists “were surrounded and killed, the explosive belts they wore were detonated,” the report said.
IS jihadists seized parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, proclaiming a “caliphate” they ruled with brutality before being defeated by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition in late 2017.
Despite the setbacks, the extremist group can still call on an underground network of fighters to carry out attacks on both sides of the porous border, the United Nations said.