MI5 varnar för terrorvår

 

Alltfler experter från europeiska säkerhetstjänster varnar för att Europa och USA kan förvänta sig en "het" terrorvår 

Taliban-Afghanistan kommer att erbjuda alla islamistiska terrorister en trygg bas och obegränsat med resurser.

Igår kom en varning från f d chefen från MI5, brittiska säkerhetstjänsten, en tung och mycket erfaren röst i branschen.

****

Ex-MI5 chief warns of 'increased threat' after Afghan collapse with Qaida getting 'operating space' and 'psychological' boost for terrorists - as he says West was 'too ambitious' trying to build new country

• Former MI5 chief says Afghan chaos will mean an 'increased threat' from terror
• Fallout from the collapse of the Afghanistan government after US troops pullout
• Ben Wallace has warned the perceived 'victory' by Taliban will inspire terrorism

The West faces an 'increased threat' after the collapse of Afghanistan, the former head of MI5 warned today.

Lord Jonathan Evans said the success of the Taliban will give al Qaida 'more operating space' and a 'psychological' boost for other terrorists.

He also criticised the 'overambitious' goals of the Afghanistan campaign, saying the 'significant failure' might have been avoided if the focus was on keeping extremism in check. 

The stark assessment came as the UK and US scramble to evacuate citizens and local allies from Kabul, with a blame game in full swing over the humiliating outcome.

Lord Evans told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think there are two problems – I think there is more operating space more likely to be available to groups like al Qaida, and there have been reports of Islamic State elements present in Afghanistan.

'If they get the opportunity to put down infrastructure to train and to operate then that will pose a threat to the West more widely.

'There's also the psychological effect of the inspiration that some people will draw from the failure of Western power in Afghanistan.

'That may well create a certain amount of energy in the wider networks that are still in existence in Britain and across the West.

'So, I think, in practical terms and in terms of ungoverned space, but also in psychological terms, it probably does mean an increase in threat over the coming months and years.'

Lord Jonathan Evans said the success of the Taliban will give al Qaida 'more operating space' and a 'psychological' boost for other terrorists

The peer said the West had been 'overambitious' in trying to rebuild Afghanistan rather than focusing on quelling the terror threat. 

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'My own personal view is that we should have focused very narrowly on counter-terrorism objectives in regard to Afghanistan.

'I think it was very worthy and rather ambitious to think we could reshape the whole country, whereas the reason we went in originally was for counter-terrorism reasons, and I think that might have been a more achievable task.'

Lord Evans said the 'capability and perseverance' needed to try and rebuild the nation was 'beyond us' due to either political or resource reasons.

He added: 'It might have been the case that the Taliban were in power, it might have been possible to have maintained a smaller level of merely counter-terrorism capability in the region so that we had the capacity to intervene.

'I think right from the beginning there was a noble ambition that we would have been able to reshape the politics of that region and I think, in retrospect, that was overambitious.

'It would have been a great thing to have achieved but we raised expectations that we were not able to follow through on and the overall effect of that has been a significant failure and setback for us.'

Theresa May was among the senior MPs warning during a Commons debate this week that Afghanistan could again become a 'breeding ground for terrorism' - the reason for the original invasion in 2001. 

Yesterday Ben Wallace gave a similar warnings, saying the meltdown will 'inspire' terrorists and be an 'opportunity' for al Qaida.

The Defence Secretary said the Taliban taking power will be seen as a 'victory' by extremists around the world.

And he cautioned that the West will now have to 'tool up' to counter a potential resurgence from the group founded by Osama bin Laden. 

Ben Wallace said yesterday that the Taliban taking power will be seen as a 'victory' by extremists around the world

'Around the world Islamists will see what they will view as a victory. That will inspire other terrorists,' Mr Wallace told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 

Mr Wallace said 'cyber geography' was now more important that territory, as extremists organise online. He also insisted he hoped that the Taliban would be unwilling to host terrorist groups as they try to rebuild links with the rest of the world.

But he said: 'I don't think anyone's denied that al Qaida is potentially going to look on this as an opportunity.

'We will have to, obviously, gear up, tool up; we already have capabilities to deal with some of that.'

Thousands of British nationals and Afghan allies have been trying to get out of the country after the government dramatically collapsed and the Taliban took charge.

There have been grim scenes of women pleading to be let through the gates at the airport, and even reports of babies being passed over the railings by mothers. 

UK ambassador Laurie Bristow, who has stayed in Kabul to process applications, has warned that there could only be 'days' left to evacuate people, with the extremists now controlling all access points.

Around 10,000 Afghan staff who helped the Western forces over the past year are now expected to come to the UK.

Och hur många finns det i Sverige....?

 

 

Säkerhetstjänsterna i Europa har mycket olika syn på offentlighet

och sekretess. Jag har ofta berömt tyska författningsskyddet som

t o m publicerar en omfattande rapport varje år kring extremist-

organisationer och hotbilden mot samhället. (engelsk version)

 Tyskarna får en ärlig chans att se varifrån hotet kommer.

 

Brittiska MI5 står traditionellt för absoluta motsatsen: Allmänheten

ska inte få veta någonting om hotet. Därför drabbar varje terrordåd

britterna som en total överraskning...

 

De svenska myndigheterna liknar tyvärr sina brittiska kollegor.

Eftersom det stora hotet idag kommer från ISLAM försöker

de slå knut på sig själv och varna för ett akut terrorhot utan

att nämna varifrån det hotet kommer.

Naturligtvis en omöjlig uppgift... 

Resultatet blir absurditeter som när gammelpressen försöker

framställa Kalifatets terrordåd på Drottninggatan som en

galen ensamvargs härjningar.

 

Därför var det en mindre revolution när MI5 efter Manchester-

massakern gick ut i medierna och berättade att det enligt

säkerhetstjänsten just nu :

 

* Bor 23.000 potentiella
jihadister i Storbritannien
 

 * Övervakas 3.000 terrormisstänkta

 

* Pågår över 500 utredningar
kring terrorism

  

 

Clarion Project kommenterade:

 

“It is a balancing act – is the intelligence sufficient to push them up the list of priorities or should the focus be on someone else given the finite resources available?”
Sources also said the fact that Britain’s security agency publicized these numbers indicates that the agency wants the public to be aware of how difficult it is to investigate potential terror threats.
As the threat level was increased from “severe” to “critical” following the Manchester attack, security in the UK was increased, with the following measures implemented:

• Armed police will patrol train in Britain.
• Armed soldiers are now guarding the House of Parliament and the prime minister’s house.
• Security is also guarding the Great Manchester Run, the Football Association cup final and the premiership rugby final.
• The National Health Service (NHS) instructed 27 major trauma centers to be prepared in case of another attack.

Following the arrests of 11 suspects in connection with the Manchester bombing, the government reduced the threat level from “severe” back to “critical.” The deployment of soldiers under ‘Operation Temperer’ will continue until midnight on Monday to cover extra security for the national holiday weekend. After that, “a well-planned and gradual withdrawal of members of the armed forces” will take Place.

****

 

Den fråga vi alla ställer oss är naturligtvis:

 

HUR MÅNGA POTENTIELLA
JIHADISTER

FINNS DET I SVERIGE ?

 

Ja, när får vi se ett pressmeddelande från SÄPO

i den frågan ?

 



Somalisk terrorist planerade självmordsbomb mot OS

En tjugofyraårig somalier som tillhör den

Al Qaedakopplade islamistiska Al Shabaab

har gripits vid de olympiska anläggning-

arna. MI5 misstänker att han planerade

ett självmordsdåd.

**

Mannen har sedan tidigare s k Terrorism Prevention

and Investigation Measures (TPIM), d v s ett dom-

stolsbeslut som beordrar honom att bo på viss ort och

ålägger restriktioner vad gäller kontakter, t ex genom

förbud mot att använda dator.

Islamisten är förvisad till Norwich, men har trots det

observerats fem gånger på OS-området den senaste

tiden.

**

"The Home Office says he is linked

to a group of six British nationals

who received terror training from

Saleh Nabhan, the Al Qaeda leader

killed in a raid by American Navy

Seals in 2009.

According to court documents, the

Home Office warned that CF wanted

to ‘re-engage in terrorism-related

activities, either in the UK or Somalia’

- and is ‘determined to continue to

 adhere to his Islamist extremist

agenda’."
***

Daily Telegraph

Daily Mail

MI5: Hundratals terrorister på väg till London

Jonathan Evans, chef för MI5, den

brittiska säkerhetstjänsten, har gjort

ett av sina sällsynta framträdanden.

I ett tal inför Olympiaden i London

varnade han för att hundratals brittiska

medborgare fått terroristutbildning i

Mellanöstern. Länder som Somalia,

Jemen, Libyen, Nigeria och Egypten

producerar idag militanta islamister

redo att begå terrordåd i Europa. 

Risken för ett stort terrordåd mot

Olympiaden måste bedömas som

betydande...

**

Britons are increasingly heading to the Middle

East for terrorist training in preparation for

attacks in the wake of the Arab Spring, the

head of MI5 has said.

Jonathan Evans, the director-general of the

Security Service, warned that parts of the

Arab world were becoming a more per-

missive environment for al Qaida and Britons

were travelling there to "seek training and

opportunities for militant activity".

Some will return to the UK and pose a

threat and the situation "could get worse

as events unfold", he said.

It is believed that up to 200 British residents

and nationals are currently in the Arab world

 and either involved in training camps, being

radicalised or operationally active with terror

groups.

"Today parts of the Arab world have once

more become a permissive environment for

al Qaida," he said.

"A small number of British would be jihadis

are also making their way to Arab countries

to seek training and opportunities for militant

activity, as they do in Somalia and Yemen.

"Some will return to the UK and pose a threat

here. This is a new and worrying development

and could get worse as events unfold.

So we will have to manage the short-term risks

if there is to be a longer-term reward from the

Arab Spring."

Yemen, Libya, Nigeria and Egypt are all

understood to pose a risk.

***

Läs hela talet 

Hemlig rapport avslöjar terroristenklaver

En hemligstämplad rapport från tre brittiska

säkerhetstjänster konstaterar att "några tusen"

jihadister är aktiva i Storbritannien. De flesta

är födda i landet, men av pakistansk härkomst.

Myndigheterna beräknar att det finns ca 200

terroristnätverk i Storbritannien. Huvuddelen

av medlemmarna är män mellan 18 och 30. De

är oftast bosatta i London, Birmingham eller

sydöstra England (med Luton som centrum).

***

I dag finns ca 1½ miljon muslimer i Storbritannien,

varav två tredjedelar i Storlondon. De flesta kommer

från Sydasien (Pakistan/Indien), men ca 10.000

är afro-karibier eller europeer.

Sedan 2001 har ca 1.200 terrorister gripits av

polisen och hittills 140 åtalats.

Extremistnätverken är ofta utbildade av Al Qaeda

i Pakistan/Afghanistan och sysslar med propaganda,

terrorfinansiering och rekrytering till olika konflikt-

härdar. Deras huvuduppgift är dock att planera och

genomföra attentat i Storbritannien.

****

Läs hela artikeln i Daily Telegraph

Terrornätverken växer

Closely linked network behind many terror plots
Those involved tied not only by faith and ideology,

but by close family bonds, college and work

friendships, and personal links forged at training

camps in Pakistan and England

***

Counter-terrorism detectives and MI5 have long

been aware of the intricate web of connections

between many of the groups and individuals

involved in supporting and carrying out jihadist

terror attacks in Britain.

The Guardian has mapped out some of those

relationships that give shape to al-Qaida in the UK.

**
Most of the men who feature within the network

are young - some barely out of their teens - and

most are British of Pakistani origin. A handful

immigrated to Britain from various parts of Africa,

while three were born in the Caribbean and one

is of Turkish Cypriot origin.
What links them is not only faith and ideology, but

close family bonds, friendships made at further

education colleges and places of work, and personal

ties forged at training camps, both in the lawless

tribal areas of north-west Pakistan, and in the

national parks of England.

**
The five men convicted in 2007 of plotting to

bomb the Ministry of Sound nightclub in central

London, for example, were said in court to be

associates of Zeeshan Siddiqui, who went on

the run in October 2006 after being subjected

to a control order. Although never convicted of

any offence, the Old Bailey heard that Siddiqui

trained with a number of the Ministry of Sound

plotters at a terrorism training camp in Pakistan,

and even considered volunteering for a suicide

bomb attack. Growing up in Hounslow, west

London, Siddiqui was a close friend of Asif Hanif,

who attempted to kill himself in a suicide bomb

attack on a bar in Tel Aviv.

**

Another of the Ministry of Sound gang is a brother

of two other men who went on the run after being

subjected to control orders. Yet another worked at

the same taxi firm in Luton as a shadowy figure

nicknamed Q, who has been identified in court as

being instrumental in arranging for Mohammad

Sidique Khan, the leader of the July 7 2005

bombers, to travel to Pakistan, where he attended

a terrorism training camp.

***

Läs hela artikeln i Guardian

**

Se hur nätverken hänger ihop

Vad lär man sig på TERRORSKOLAN ?

Ni läste nyligen om rättegången mot

islamisterna i Glasvejs-ligan.

Pakistaniern Hammad Khürshid

avslöjades när han gick på terror-

skola hos talibanerna. Hundratals

europeer och invandrare i Europa

har gått på sådana skolor.

Men vad lär man sig egentligen

på en terrorskola enligt Al Qaeda-

modell ?

Brittiska MI5 har svaret:

"During the late 1990s, Al Qaida joined forces with other

extremist movements, notably Egyptian Islamic Jihad

(whose head Ayman al-Zarahiri became Usama bin

Laden's deputy) and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

The Taliban leadership gave shelter to bin Laden and

his supporters, actively supporting Al Qaida and forming

close links with its leadership.

**
Under Taliban protection, Al Qaida established a

number of training camps in Afghanistan. Fellow

extremists from around the world were encouraged

to visit the camps to undergo terrorist training

and religious indoctrination.

**

They were trained in skills such as:

• Use of firearms and explosives
• Map-reading and field operations
• Military tactics
• Espionage and information-gathering
• Kidnapping and assassinations
• Torture methods
• Communications methods
• Personal security
  

Not every recruit was given the same level of
training but, even so, thousands are estimated
to have passed through Al Qaida's camps.
Many of those trained by Al Qaida returned to
their home countries - including the UK - where
they joined existing terrorist networks or
established new, loosely-knit networks which
were often centred on a leading figure or "emir".
**
Most of the Al Qaida terrorist training camps in
Afghanistan were destroyed in the international
military action that followed the September 11,
2001 attacks in the United States.
However, terrorist training has continued elsewhere
in remote regions of Pakistan and Kashmir, though
this has sometimes consisted of little more than
groups of people meeting informally in places
where their activities would be difficult to detect.
**
Individuals who passed through Al Qaida's camps
have been involved in a variety of subsequent
terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere.
Although a significant number of Al Qaida's
"graduates" have been killed or arrested in the
worldwide campaign against terrorism, many
trained terrorists remain at large and continue
to pose a serious threat. They include a number
of UK citizens and foreign citizens resident in
the UK (see "Al Qaida and the UK").
**
In recent years, the Internet has become a key
means of indoctrinating and training would-be
terrorists. Extremist websites aim to recruit
and radicalise individuals through videos and
ideological statements. Such websites also
provide detailed advice and instructions on
how to plan and prepare for attacks, in effect
acting as a "virtual training camp".
A number of individuals in the UK and elsewhere
have been convicted for running or contributing
to extremist websites."

Finns det en "typisk" jihadist ?

The Guardian publicerade på onsdagen en

hemligstämplad rapport från MI5, brittiska

säkerhetstjänsten, som analyserade hur de

"typiska" islamistiska terroristerna i Stor-

britannien ser ut. Slutsatsen är egentligen

att det finns inte så många gemensamma

drag....

***

The sophisticated analysis, based on hundreds of

case studies by the security service, says there is

no single pathway to violent extremism.

It concludes that it is not possible to draw up a

typical profile of the "British terrorist" as most

are "demographically unremarkable" and simply

reflect the communities in which they live.

**

The main findings include:
The majority are British nationals and the

remainder, with a few exceptions, are here

legally. Around half were born in the UK,

with others migrating here later in life.

Some of these fled traumatic experiences

and oppressive regimes and claimed UK

asylum, but more came to Britain to study

or for family or economic reasons and

became radicalised many years after arriving.

*
Far from being religious zealots, a large number

of those involved in terrorism do not practise

their faith regularly. Many lack religious literacy

and could actually be regarded as religious novices.

Very few have been brought up in strongly religious

households, and there is a higher than average

proportion of converts. Some are involved in

drug-taking, drinking alcohol and visiting prostitutes.

MI5 says there is evidence that a well-established

religious identity actually protects against violent

radicalisation.

*
The "mad and bad" theory to explain why people

turn to terrorism does not stand up, with no more

evidence of mental illness or pathological personality

traits found among British terrorists than is found

in the general population.

*
British-based terrorists are as ethnically diverse

as the UK Muslim population, with individuals from

Pakistani, Middle Eastern and Caucasian backgrounds.

MI5 says assumptions cannot be made about

suspects based on skin colour, ethnic heritage or

nationality.

*
Most UK terrorists are male, but women also

play an important role. Sometimes they are

aware of their husbands', brothers' or sons'

activities, but do not object or try to stop them.

*
While the majority are in their early to mid-20s

when they become radicalised, a small but not

insignificant minority first become involved in

violent extremism at over the age of 30.

*
Far from being lone individuals with no ties,

the majority of those over 30 have steady

relationships, and most have children.

MI5 says this challenges the idea that terrorists

are young men driven by sexual frustration and

lured to "martyrdom" by the promise of beautiful

virgins waiting for them in paradise. It is wrong to

assume that someone with a wife and children is

less likely to commit acts of terrorism.

*
Those involved in British terrorism are not

unintelligent or gullible, and nor are they more

likely to be well-educated; their educational

achievement ranges from total lack of

qualifications to degree-level education.

However, they are almost all employed in

low-grade jobs

***