Mayor of London worried about ISIS attacks on the city

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has indicated that the terror threat from ISIS is reaching new highs and reducing the budget allocation of the police could cost lives. He has said that the danger of attacks in the capital had risen and ensuring the safety of the people was becoming 'increasingly difficult'.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 4 February 2017.

In his opinion, Donald Trump's travel ban will hand ISIS a powerful propaganda tool. The London Mayor made these comments against the backdrop of the latest apparent terror incident at the Louvre in Paris. He also brought out the point that twelve people were killed and 50 more were injured when a terrorist drove a heavy truck into a packed Christmas market in Berlin at 40mph. And, in July last, 86 people were killed and another 434 were hurt when a jihadi drove a 19-ton lorry into crowds that were celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice.
The Mayor added that the Islamic State is already believed to be having terror cells in the UK and could be plotting to carry out a massacre on the scale of the atrocities in Berlin and Nice.


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French police arrest ISIS suspects who were targeting a theme park

Anti-terror officers arrested ISIS suspects from the eastern city of Strasbourg and Marseille in the south. The suspects were planning to target a theme park and an area with a high police presence and the arrest came after an investigation by security services that lasted for more than eight months.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 23 November 2016.

In the course of the raids, two handguns, an automatic pistol, a machine pistol and jihadist propaganda were found. The alleged terror ring could have been plotting an attack on a theme park. However, no specific target was revealed.
The seven alleged plotters detained by the police hail from France, Morocco and Afghanistan. Moreover, the four suspects held in Strasbourg, all French, aged between 35 and 37 and not previously known to the intelligence services, were still being interrogated. Two of them are suspected of traveling to Syria in 2015 before returning to Europe.
It may be noted that France is under a state of emergency. This gives security forces enhanced powers to mount surveillance and launch raids. These are after the attacks by Islamic State jihadists on Paris that left 130 people dead.
It may be recalled that France has suffered three major attacks since January 2015 - when gunmen targeted the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket, followed by last November's atrocities in Paris. Then in July, a self-radicalised extremist drove a truck through crowds watching fireworks in the southern city of Nice and killed 86.


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British police have foiled 12 terror plots against Britain in the last three years

UK police and intelligence services have foiled 12 terror plots against Britain in the last three years. MI5 director has indicated that ISIS extremists in Iraq and Syria pose the most significant threat. He has also added that British intelligence agencies have 'good defenses' and has also warned that they will not find and stop all attacks.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 31 October 2016.

It seems assault weapons like those used in the Paris terror attacks are being smuggled into Britain by criminals gangs and sold on to terrorists. The majority of these illegal weapons come from Eastern Europe, where rules on reactivated guns are not as strict as the UK. Moreover, the majority of weapons seized are of very poor quality and have been reactivated often from the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
National Crime Agency, often referred to as Britain's FBI, and the Met Police have revealed that they have observed an increase in deactivated guns being reactivated in Eastern Europe and coming into Britain by sea, air and even by post. Some of the illegal weapons are bought on the Dark Web or from licensed owners that have either sold or had their weapons stolen.
In addition, there has been a rise in gang violence in British cities because of criminals competing over turf and some of the members have even joined terrorist cells after radicalization on the streets or in jail. Hence, the picture is quite grim.


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Abandoned car with gas cylinders found near Notre Dame cathedral

Police are believed to have made two more arrests following the discovery of an abandoned car containing gas cylinders in Paris. The vehicle did not have any registration plates and, was found with its hazard lights flashing. The car contained six gas tanks and, police are of the opinion that it may have been part of a "test run" for a terror attack.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 8 September 2016.

Two people had been arrested earlier near Montargis which is around 70 miles south of Paris and two other people, aged 34 and 29, were arrested at a service station in southern France. Both are said to have been known to police for having links to extremist Islamists.
The owner of the recovered vehicle was briefly detained and later released, but his "radicalized" daughter is being sought by police. Three other people have also been held and questioned before being released. Obviously, there is a security alert which has come after a warning from Paris prosecutor Francois Molins that an increasing number of teenagers have been radicalized in the French capital. As per his information, 35 minors - 23 boys and 12 girls - are being investigated under preliminary charges and, nine of whom have been detained.
It may be recalled that France has been under a state emergency since the November 2015 attacks on Paris in which 130 people were killed and hundreds others injured.


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France to impart lessons in schools on survival technques in case of ISIS attacks

In view of the terror attacks in France, the authorities have decided to impart lessons in how to survive a terror attack at school. This would be stated when the students return to school next month after their summer holidays. The lessons would be given to all those aged 14 and over and the course would include basic 'life-saving' skills as well as how to stay calm in the event of an attack.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 11 August 2016.

In the opinion of French officials, these lessons will improve the resilience of youngsters and also train them to have good reactions. The schools will have to conduct three bomb threat drills throughout the academic year so that they are not 'taken by surprise' in the event of an attack. These will be different from a fire alarm drill.
The ISIS has already said in December that schools are a 'top priority' target. The terror group wants to remove children from French schools and kill teachers for being 'enemies of Islam' because they teach secularism.
Under the new measures, the headteachers would have to hold special meetings with parents and inform them about what security measures they have in place. The schools will also see surveillance stepped up in the roads around their buildings to ensure security.


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Terror suspect in Brussels shopping mall wore a fake suicide vest

A terror suspect created a false bomb alert when he told officers that he was wearing a suicide vest. He was detained at the scene and armed police came on the scene and it transpired that the man was not carrying explosives. In fact, he had strapped on his body around his waist a device full of 'salt and biscuits'. As a precautionary measure, police had descended on the City2 Shopping Mall in the heart of the Belgian capital and taped off surrounding roads and closed down five underground stations.
The authorities are investigating whether it was a practical joke or whether there were sinister motives like checking the preparedness of security system. Prime Minister Charles Michel has called the incident 'very suspicious'.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 21 June 2016.

The incident has come a week after anti-terrorism investigators were alerted to the possibility that small groups of ISIS extremists had left Syria for France and Belgium with plans to stage attacks - including at a shopping mall. Belgium's anti-terror office has already warned police that fighters with access to weapons may have left Syria about 10 days ago for Belgium and France.
Belgium has been on high alert ever since November flowing the massacres in Paris that killed 130 people. Later, on March 22, ISIS bombers targeted Brussels airport and subway and killed 32 people. As a result, extra police and military have been mobilised.


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Was the EgyptAir crash an act of terrorism by the ISIS?

EgyptAir Flight MS804 has gone missing over the Mediterranean with 66 people on board and there are reports of a merchant ship captain having seen a 'flame in the sky'. Obviously, there are fears that it could be an act of terrorism. The head of France's internal intelligence agency had already warned that France was being 'clearly targeted' by ISIS - and the warning had come a week before the Paris to Cairo flight took off.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 19 May 2016.

An Egyptian civil aviation authority spokesman has revealed that the Airbus A320 with 15 French passengers and one Briton on board has most likely crashed into the sea. The cause of the disaster is not known but it has come seven months after a bomb blew up a Russian airliner over the Sinai desert - it killed all 224 people on board. ISIS has, subsequently, admitted that a soda can bomb had been used to bring down the Metrojet plane.
In this connection, the warnings of Patrick Calvar, the head of France's DGSI agency, are relevant. On 10 May, he had told a parliamentary committee on national defense in Paris that ISIS was planning 'a new form of attack'. France had been targeted twice last year. First it was the Charlie Hebdo attack in January and then the Paris attacks in November. The attack in November killed 130 people and were conducted by suicide bombers and jihadists armed with Kalashnikovs.
He said that a new form of attack was possible because ISIS had suffered military setbacks in Syria and Iraq and wanted to take revenge on members of the coalition, including France because France was behind the air strikes on ISIS targets.


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This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 23 March 2016.

In the opinion of officials, hundreds of extremists have been trained specifically for external attacks on European cities, like the ones which have brought death and devastation to Brussels and Paris. The brains behind such attacks are depraved Islamic State chiefs who encourage fighters to choose the time, place and method of a terror attack wisely so that it causes maximum casualties and destruction.
As per rough estimates, 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters have been trained specifically for external attacks - these are out of nearly 5,000 Europeans who have gone to Syria. It seems there are camps in Syria and Iraq that have been designed specifically to train for attacks against the West.


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Mastermind of Paris terror attacks entered Britain through Dover easily

#paristerrorattack #jihadists #syria Mastermind of Paris terror attacks had entered Britain through Dover easily and fresh fears have been raised over the existing border controls at Britain's ferry ports. The terrorist was the ringleader of the terror cell which slaughtered 130 people in the French capital in November and he was subsequently killed in a police raid on his hideout.
But the fact remains that French investigators have found that he had traveled to the UK earlier last year and had photos of British landmarks on his mobile phone. The apparent ease with which the he entered the UK - in spite of being the subject of an arrest warrant by Belgian authorities - has led to criticism of Britain's border guards and security services. Belgium had, in July last year, sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for recruiting jihadists to fight in Syria.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 11 January 2016.

Britain would need to conduct an urgent review of border security at ferry terminals and, simultaneously, provide urgent reassurance that passports are being properly checked on exit and arrival in the UK. The terrorist is supposed to have gained entry into Britain through the port of Dover in Kent. The dates of his arrival and departure have not been given.
It may be recalled that during the attacks in Paris in November, he had killed up to 20 people in cafes and bars with an automatic rifle before he went to the Bataclan concert hall. Once there, he directed the murders of another 89 men and women. CCTV images showed him calmly making his way around the city while the carnage unfolded.

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