British Islamic State terrorists had planned a serious attack on a UK public gathering.
The haunting warning around a new ISIS terror incident came from Iraq's most senior counter-terror officer whose men had managed to uncover the plot. The Iraqi Counter Terror Service in Baghdad were training for their next SAS-style assault on the terror group often known as Daesh when the warning was issued.
General Abdul Wahab el-Saadi warned: “We know ISIS have been talking to UK-based terrorists and we know what they are planning. It is a big attack.” The general's elite force, known as Golden Division, discovered the plans for an international attack mere days ago after killing dozens of militants in a desert hideout, the Mirror reports.
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The 60-year-old general added: "We discovered that the UK is the next target outside Iraq. In the past few weeks we launched major operations against Daesh or Islamic State and killed large numbers of terrorists, in one raid there were about five of them, all quite senior.
“I can tell you that from the information we found at the site of one of our recent raids the next intended terror attack will be in the United Kingdom.”
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He described the UK cell in the following way: "These terrorists are British nationals.” He added: "The Islamic State fighters we are coming up against here are Iraqis and we no longer believe there are foreign fighters in our country.
“But we do have evidence that terrorists here are in contact with extremists in the United Kingdom, and that they are plotting.
“I cannot tell what form the attack they want to launch would take as it can be a car, a knife, a gun, a bomb. I do not have those details for you except that it will, if it happens, be in a public place of the type I have described to you.
“We have given all of the information to the British authorities so they know about it. The four priority countries in Europe are the UK, France, Belgium and Germany.”
Over the past few weeks, Iraq's top counter-terror units have been wiping out ISIS hideouts across the country. Referring to Iraq’s notorious Sunni triangle, Gen al-Saadi said: “Definitely there are cells from Anbar Province up to Saladin, north of Baghdad, also south of Mosul there are cells and in the Hamrin Mountains, north-east Iraq.
“A few days ago we carried an operation in Anbar and killed 22, some of them senior members of Daesh. Also recently we carried out a big operation in the north killing five.
“We are in the front line in this war against Islamic State and we are paying in blood to protect countries like Britain.”
The general said Iraq's remaining ISIS terrorists are hiding in desert caes throughout the Sunni triangle and in the north west. He stated that some of the cells are large innumber, holding around 40 to 60 people.
Just a few days ago, a joint assault was carried out between special forces and the Iraqi Mukhabarat, or General Intelligence Directorate.
Gen al-Saadi said of the people they are fighting: “These are the hardest of the hard amongst terrorists. They are cruel savages, brainwashed and hell bent on committing homicide against ordinary people.
“They have to be beaten and that is what we are doing. This is the front line, in Iraq.”
The UK terror threat level, set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, is currently “substantial” – meaning an attack is “likely”.
