Britain has more ISIS fanatics on the loose than ANY country in Europe – as it’s feared returning women and KIDS could carry out next wave of attacks
A former MI6 chief believes returning jihadis 'will continue to pose some degree of risk', with hundreds more still to return
BRITAIN has one of the largest numbers of returning ISIS fighters in the world, a new report suggests.
Around 850 UK-linked individuals "of national security concern" made the journey to the jihadists' crumbling "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq, with just under half of those believed to have come back.
And there are fears women and even KIDS who return to the UK could launch terror attacks on our streets.
The figure of approximately 425 returnees is the fourth highest for individual nations in an analysis published by the Soufan Centre and the Global Strategy Network.
By comparison, around 300 returned to Germany and 271 to France.
Out of countries for which data was available, only Turkey (900), Tunisia (800) and Saudi Arabia (760) had larger numbers of returning "foreign fighters", according to the study.
The paper, written by Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6, said: "While returning foreign fighters have not as yet added significantly to the threat of terrorism around the world, the number of attacks inspired or directed by the Islamic State continues to rise.
"All returnees, whatever their reason for going home, will continue to pose some degree of risk."
Chillingly, the report notes there has also been a rise in the number of women involved in attacks - with nearly a quarter of terror plots in Europe from the start of 2017 to May involving women.
The danger of women attackers was laid bare in September 2016, the French authorities arrested three women for leaving a car bomb near Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The plot had been guided by ISIS members in Syria.
The report also highlights the terrifying possibility that brainwashed children could launch terror attacks on British shores.
In June a human rights group reported that ISIS had recruited more than 1,000 children for military training, including as suicide bombers.
Around 100 women from Britain left to join ISIS, and 100 children were taken to the caliphate.
Previous research has suggested that overall more than 40,000 individuals travelled to join Islamic State from more than 110 nations both before and after it declared a caliphate in June 2014.
The new assessment calculates that at least 5,600 citizens or residents have gone back to their home countries.
It says: "Added to the unknown numbers from other countries, this represents a huge challenge for security and law enforcement entities."
The report notes that most returnees "will be unlikely to experience anything in their lives at home that matches the intensity of their experience as a member of IS (Islamic State), whether or not they were fighting on the front line".
THE NATIONS WITH THE MOST RETURNING JIHADIS
- Turkey - 900
- Tunisia - 800
- Saudia Arabia - 760
- UK - 425
- Russia - 400
- Germany - 300
- France - 271
- Jordan 250
- West Balkans - 250
- Morocco - 198
It adds: "If on return they begin again to feel as rootless and lacking in purpose as they did before they left, then they are unlikely to settle back easily into a 'normal' life, and as IS increases its external campaign, both through action and propaganda, returnees may be particularly vulnerable to contact from people who were part of the network that recruited them, or appeals for help from ex-comrades in arms.
"It seems probable that the influence and involvement of returnees will grow as their numbers increase."
Meanwhile, Britain's Henry Jackson Society think tank said not enough is being done to counter the risk posed by radicalised Muslim converts. It warned converts are "over-represented among foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq".
Questions over how returning extremists are managed by the counter-terrorism agencies have intensified as IS comes under fierce military pressure.
At the weekend a Government minister suggested the only way of dealing with most British IS fighters in Syria was to kill them.
Rory Stewart, the international development minister, later emphasised that combatants should be dealt with "in accordance with law".
ISIS' CHILD SLEEPER CELLS
Earlier this month it was reported that ISIS is training kids as young as nine to unleash terror on the UK, while “sleeper cells” in Europe are “waiting for their order” to attack.
The chilling claim was made by Emir Abu Abboud al-Raqqawi, who was a senior commander in the militant group in Syria before he defected.
The fanatics have been turning more and more to attacks on the West as their self-proclaimed caliphate begins to crumble.
And Syrian al-Raqqawi has now revealed in chilling detail how the evil terror network is controlled and operated.
He told : “Migrants inside the caliphate are in touch with their friends in the Western world.
“Their friends and family in Sweden, in Germany, in France, in the UK, in Turkey, in Azerbaijan or in other parts of the world.”
And he issued a chilling warning, saying: “There will be more attacks … sleeper cells are awaiting orders.”
His remarks came days after Max Hill QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for a focus on "reintegration" in cases where authorities have decided individuals who return should not face prosecution.
Mr Hill said it was right that security services have left space for those who travelled out of a sense of naivety, at a young age and who return in a "state of utter disillusionment" to be diverted away from the criminal courts.
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