UK MI5 boss warns of Afghanistan "morale boost" for extremists

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban is likely to have "emboldened" terrorists, the head of MI5 has warned.

Director general Ken McCallum told the BBC that while the terror threat would not change overnight, there could be a "morale boost" for extremists. And there is also a concern terrorists could regroup and plan "well-developed, sophisticated plots", he said.

A total of 31 late-stage attack plots have been foiled in the UK in the past four years, said Mr McCallum. That includes six during the pandemic period alone, he added. While they were largely Islamic extremist plots, there were also a "growing number" of attacks planned by extreme right-wing terrorists.

"The terrorist threat to the UK, I am sorry to say, is a real and enduring thing," he added.

Mr McCallum, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., said that smaller-scale terrorist acts by those already in the UK made up the largest number of threats faced by MI5.

"There is no doubt that events in Afghanistan will have heartened and emboldened some of those extremists and so being vigilant to precisely those kinds of risks is what my organisation is focused on along with a range of other threats," he said.

But there is still also a risk of an increase in larger plots directed by terrorism groups like al-Qaida, he warned.  

Read more...  (BBC)