Daily Star Sunday

WELCOME TO JIHADI UK

More British Isis nuts here than fighting in Syria

- ■ EXCLUSIVE by PATRICK WILLIAMS

INTELLIGEN­CE agents say there are more Islamic State fanatics living in the UK than there are Brits fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Senior MI5 spies fear hardened fighters have returned to the UK intent on recruiting more fanatics to carry out attacks on our shores.

Intelligen­ce chiefs believe hundreds of Brits have returned to the UK and are now living in areas with the highest concentrat­ions of Muslims.

The source told the Daily

Star Sunday that up to 300 people who have returned from Syria after fighting for Isis are believed to be living in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, using innocent Muslims as cover.

He added that hundreds more are living in Birmingham, Leicester and Luton.

The source added: “The best place to hide a tree is in a forest – and this is what those who have fought for Isis are doing. They have basically relocated their HQ from Syria to the UK. The fear is they will begin recruiting and will wage terror on British soil. “Those returning include both men and women, mainly under the age of 25, who are skilled in guerrilla warfare and bomb-making. The threat is very real.”

Tower Hamlets has more than 40 mosques and Muslims outnumber Christians in the London borough.

Islamic State-style flags have flown in parts of the borough which was also home to three British schoolgirl­s who left the UK to join Isis in February 2015.

The threat from Islamist terrorism in the UK has never been so great and the police and MI5 are foiling attacks almost monthly. Intelligen­ce chiefs believe it is just a matter of time before Britain faces another major atrocity.

Islamic State leaders have called on followers to join the Army and police to carry out attacks. One terrorist manual claimed that attacks carried out in the Middle East are part of a wider strategy that includes plans to bring mayhem to the UK.

The handbook – the Management of Savagery – also claimed infiltrati­on operations have been going on for years, meaning that a sleeper cell may already have got inside the MoD or a police force.

Written by jihadi Abu Bakr Naji, inset, the guide has been carefully studied by terrorist commanders in Syria and Iraq, who he tells: ‘Our battle is long and still in its beginning. However, its length provides an opportunit­y for infiltrati­ng the adversarie­s.

“We should infiltrate police forces, armies, private security companies, and civil institutio­ns.”

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HOT SPOTS: Map of UK’s jihadi areas as identified by MI5 agents
■ HOT SPOTS: Map of UK’s jihadi areas as identified by MI5 agents

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