IS ‘crocodile cells’ plotting terror strikes in Europe

INTELLIGENCE officials fear terrorist sleeper cells like the Sri Lankan hotel bombers could launch a new wave of deadly attacks in the West, it was revealed yesterday.

MI5 and counter-terrorism experts are investigating plans for ‘crocodile cells’ to unleash attacks in Europe and at holiday destinations identified as potentially soft targets.

Links between the Sri Lankan suicide bombers and British jihadis loyal to Islamic State have fuelled fears other cells are waiting for orders to strike.

Hotel bomber Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, who attended Kingston University in Surrey, is said to have been ‘mentored’ by British terrorists in Syria.

IS has claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombings, which killed at least 250 people in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, including eight Britons.

Mohamed and at least one of the other eight bombers are believed to have travelled to join the group in the Middle East to prepare the attacks. Intelligence agencies are investigating if they were then sent home to join an IS ‘crocodile cell’ – named because they wait undetected for a chance to strike with deadly force.

An intelligence source told The Sunday Times: ‘We’ve seen intelligence which connects him [Mohamed] to a number of British terrorists who were in Syria...’

Charlie Winter, from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London told the paper: ‘We are likely to see more attempts at attacks, more regularly, for the foreseeable future. Sri Lanka was not a one-off. If anything, it was a test run.’