Terror threat highest since 9/11 with up to 5,000 fanatics at large after returning from Syria, warns Europe’s police chief
Tweet allegedly came from a fighter in Syria sparking major operation
It read: ‘Islamic State has killed a British soldier in Britain in his own home’
Growing concern over copycat beheadings in the UK and filmed over web
Counter-terror officers hearing ‘chatter’ about abducting serving soldiers
By TOM MCTAGUE
DailyMail.com
13 January 2015
Up to 5,000 Islamist fanatics are at large after returning to Europe from the front line in Syria, the Continent’s police chief has revealed.
Rob Wainwright, the British head of Europol, said the threat from home-grown terrorists was at its highest level since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The warning comes after French gunmen killed 17 people over three days of terror in Paris last week.
Mr Wainwright, appearing in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said Europe now faces it’s ‘most severe terrorist threat since 9/11’.
He added: ‘We are talking about 3,000 to 5,000 EU nationals who are potentially a threat.
‘Clearly, we’re dealing with a large body of mainly young men who have the potential to come back and have the potential or the intent and capability to carry out attacks we have seen in Paris in the last week.’
The warning comes after revelations that a major security alert was triggered on New Year’s Eve by a message posted on Twitter claiming ISIS had ‘killed a British soldier’.
The tweet allegedly came from a fighter in Syria and read: ‘Allahu akbar! Islamic State has killed a British soldier in Britain in his own home.’
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