FBI issues urgent terror warning as ISIS plots ‘coordinated attacks’ on US soil
Twisted terrorists backed by ISIS are plotting “coordinated attacks” on United States soil, the FBI has said in a terrifying new warning.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that terrorist affiliate groups such as ISIS-K are behaving in an “increasingly concerning way”.
He also revealed that the bureau is actively working to thwart a coordinated attack from these terrorist factions in the wake of the Russia Concert Hall assault that claimed at least 144 lives and left hundreds more injured.
“Foreign terrorists, including ISIS, al-Qaida, and their adherents, have renewed calls for attacks against Jewish communities here in the United States and across the West in statements and propaganda,” Mr Wray warned.
“The foreign terrorist threat and the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, like the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall a couple of weeks ago, is now increasingly concerning. October 7 and the conflict that’s followed will feed a pipeline of radicalization and mobilization for years to come,” Wray added.
This alert comes mere weeks after experts predicted that ISIS will attempt to strike the US. Former top general Frank McKenzie has conceded that the “threat is growing” from the Islamic terror group following ISIS-K’s claim of responsibility for a lethal attack in Russia.
Gunmen opened fire at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, one of Russia’s largest shopping and entertainment complexes, last month. A massive blaze engulfed the complex after the shooting.
ISIS later claimed responsibility, saying its fighters “attacked” a “big gathering for Christians in the Russian Moscow suburb” injuring “hundreds” and causing “major destruction.”
Russia’s foreign ministry labeled the incident a “terrorist attack.”
Former general Kenneth McKenzie said the terror group, which also claimed responsibility for a mass bombing in Iran in January, should be taken seriously when it threatens to attack the US.
“We should believe them when they say that. They’re going to try to do it,” McKenzie told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
“I think the threat is growing. It began to grow as soon as we left Afghanistan, it took pressure off ISIS-K. So I think we should expect further attempts of this nature against the United States as well as our partners and other nations abroad,” McKenzie said. “I think this is inevitable.”
McKenzie said the US has enough military presence in Iraq and Syria to stop extremists there, but he believes a small troop presence should have been kept in Afghanistan instead of withdrawing completely in August 2021. The conclusion of America’s longest war came with its share of controversy as President Biden faced criticism for his earlier assurance of an “over-the-horizon capability” to “act quickly and decisively” in Afghanistan from afar.
Contradicting those assurances, McKenzie expressed skepticism about such capabilities. “In Afghanistan, we have almost no ability to see into that country and almost no ability to strike into that country,” he explained, highlighting the advantageous position this creates for the Islamic State and other militants.
He emphasized the importance of continuous pressure: “If you can keep pressure on them … in their homeland and their base, it makes it hard for them to conduct these types of attacks,” McKenzie lamented the current situation: “Unfortunately, we no longer place that pressure on them, so they’re free to gain strength, they’re free to plan, they’re free to coordinate.”
Source » msn.com
