DNI: Homegrown Jihadists Remain ‘Most Frequent and Unpredictable’ Terror Threat to U.S.
by EDWIN MORA
BreitBart.com
14 May 2017
WASHINGTON, DC — The American homeland is facing “the most frequent and unpredictable” Islamic terrorist threat from Sunni “U.S.-based homegrown violent extremists (HVEs),” warns the most recent Worldwide Threat Assessment issued by the United States intelligence community (IC).
“We assess that ISIS [Islamic State} maintains the intent and capability to direct, enable, assist, and inspire transnational attacks. The number of foreign fighters traveling to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria will probably continue to decline as potential recruits face increasing difficulties attempting to travel there,” states the assessment presented Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats during a hearing Thursday held by the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The number of ISIS foreign fighters leaving Iraq and Syria might increase, increasing departures would very likely prompt additional would-be fighters to look for new battlefields or return to their home countries to conduct or support external operations.”
The IC’s Worldwide Threat Assessment is consistent with a 2017 terrorism forecast by the House Homeland Security Committee showing that the rate at which Americans are being radicalized at home is “alarming.”
“There have been nearly 200 total homegrown jihadist cases in the United States since 9/11 (the figure currently stands at 193), a majority having taken place in just the past few years,” notes the report.
Many countries, including the United States, are concerned about the return of Americans who traveled to Iraq and Syria to engage in jihad on behalf of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), al-Qaeda (AQ), and other terrorist groups.
Last month, U.S. Department of Homeland Security John Kelly sounded the alarm on battled-hardened “holy warriors” who traveled to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria potentially returning to “wreak murderous havoc” in the United States and other countries once they return home.
In the past 12 months alone, the number of homegrown terrorism cases reached 36 in 18 U.S. states, revealed Kelly, noting, “Over the past few years, we’ve seen an unprecedented spike in homegrown terrorism.”
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