Isis sending waves of battle-hardened jihadis from Syria to carry out horror attacks in Europe
A new squad of 200 counter-terrorism officers to be deployed to Greek islands within weeks to spot extremists seeking entry to Europe
BRITAIN'S security services have today been warned new waves of ISIS fighters sent “on missions” to kill are heading to Europe.
The worrying alert came as the EU’s top law enforcement officer revealed record numbers of jihadis are now using forged documents to enter Europe from Syria.
Europol’s director Rob Wainwright revealed ISIS had taken a “strategic decision” to send die-hard followers to attack the continent in an attempt to distract from its battlefield defeats.
In recent months, ISIS have been pounded from land, sea and air by Syrian troops, Russian forces and Turkish troops.
Mr Wainwright said Europe also faced the return of thousands more extremists as IS crumbled in Syria in a “long, long struggle” that will pose a 'challenge' for years.
The warnings, in an interview with the came as Mr Wainwright revealed a new squad of 200 counter- terrorism officers is to be deployed to the Greek islands to spot extremists seeking entry to Europe.
He also predicted more attempted Paris-style “spectacular” attacks, saying there are more than 50 counter-terror investigations currently under way in Europe.
And warned of reports that extremists are attempting to radicalise migrants at refugee reception centres in Greece and the Balkans.
Mr Wainwright said: “There’s a lot pressure on IS now. I suspect morale might be flagging and a number of fighters of their own volition will want to return.
Related Stories
"Over several years we’ll have to deal with the re- integration of thousands of Europeans who’ll come back having been exposed to a highly radicalised environment.
“That’s going to be a long, long struggle for us to deal with the numbers involved and how we can get them back into society, plus sort out which among them pose the biggest security threat.
“Given the numbers involved, that’s quite an onerous security challenge the authorities will face. Some fighters will be sent back by IS to engage in terrorist activity.
"We have, in the last year and a half, seen a strategic decision by IS to do that and carry out spectacular attacks of the type we saw in France and Brussels. There will be further attempts at that kind of activity, not least as a distraction."
Mr Wainwright said that to reduce the danger Europol would deploy highly-trained counter-terrorism officers to help border guards spot potential extremists.
He said: “The officers will, on rotation, be deployed to the Greek islands, maybe Italy. There will be a second line of defence. We hope to deploy some into the camps where the refugees, the asylum seekers, are being held.
“We are concerned over reports these kinds of reception centres are being targeted for radicalisation activities.”
At least two of those behind the Paris attacks last November are known to have re-entered Europe from Syria via Greece using false Syrian passports.
