British jihadi killed by Cameron drone was plotting atrocity in UK
‘Thwarted terror plots’
A BRITISH jihadi killed by an unprecedented RAF drone strike in Syria was plotting murder on Britain’s streets, an inquiry has concluded.
MPs and peers said David Cameron’s decision to assassinate Cardiff-born extremist Reyaad Khan with a missile had prevented a very significant loss of life in the UK.
The then Prime Minister ordered the blitz against the 21year-old Briton two years ago because security chiefs assessed there was a high risk he was orchestrating attacks against the West.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee of MPs and peers investigated the intelligence basis for the strike and said in a report yesterday that it was in no doubt Khan had posed a very serious threat.
The ISC, which had high-level access to intelligence reports, said Khan was a prolific radicaliser, recruiter and attack-planner for terror group Islamic State.
Its report said: ‘He orchestrated numerous plots to murder large numbers of UK citizens and those of our allies, as part of a wider terrorist group which considers itself at war with the West.’ Khan died with Ruhul Amin, another British jihadi, when an RAF Reaper drone blasted their vehicle near the IS stronghold of Raqqa on August 21, 2015.
It was the first time the UK had conducted a lethal attack using a remotely-piloted aircraft outside regular military conflict. Three days later a US drone killed a third British extremist Junaid Hussain. Khan, who appeared in an IS recruitment video in June 2014, was said to be part of a jihadi internet warfare cell and had boasted about taking part in beheadings.
Ministers at the time said he had plotted to bring bloodshed to public commemorations attended by war veterans and dignitaries including the Queen.
Khan was linked to some of the seven thwarted terror plots against the UK in 2015. Because it was unlikely Khan would leave Syria, MI5 told Mr Cameron: ‘There are no other credible opportunities for us to comprehensively disrupt Khan’s attack planning beyond a lethal strike.’
Five months after the strike, security service chiefs said the disruption to IS operations had been ‘immediate and serious’.
Tory MP Dominic Grieve, the ISC chairman, said yesterday: ‘Over the course of nine months he, alongside another plotter (Junaid Hussain), encouraged multiple operatives around the world to conduct attacks against the UK and our allies.
‘They provided practical instructions for the manufacture of bombs, and information on targets. We are in no doubt that Reyaad Khan posed a very serious threat to the UK.’
Mr Grieve said it was disappointing the committee had not been shown some key documents it considered relevant to the decision to kill Khan. The Government said this would have taken the inquiry beyond the agreement to focus on the nature of the threat he posed.