AP, London :
Britain’s domestic intelligence chief warned during a rare public speech Tuesday that the terrorist threat the country faces has accelerated at an alarming pace and is worse now than at any time in his 34-year career.
MI5 Director General Andrew Parker said his agency, also known as the Security Service, is constantly expanding and upgrading its capability, but cannot realistically prevent all attacks targeting civilians.
“In 2017, with all that has happened and much that has not, it is clear that we are contending with an intense U.K. terrorist threat from Islamist extremists,” Parker told journalists in London. “That threat is multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly, and operating at a scale and pace we’ve not seen before.”
He noted a “dramatic upshift” in the threat this year, with successful attacks in London and Manchester that killed 36 people combined.
“Twenty attacks in the U.K. have been foiled over the past four years,” Parker said. “Many more will have been prevented by the early interventions we and the police make.
Britain’s domestic intelligence chief warned during a rare public speech Tuesday that the terrorist threat the country faces has accelerated at an alarming pace and is worse now than at any time in his 34-year career.
MI5 Director General Andrew Parker said his agency, also known as the Security Service, is constantly expanding and upgrading its capability, but cannot realistically prevent all attacks targeting civilians.
“In 2017, with all that has happened and much that has not, it is clear that we are contending with an intense U.K. terrorist threat from Islamist extremists,” Parker told journalists in London. “That threat is multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly, and operating at a scale and pace we’ve not seen before.”
He noted a “dramatic upshift” in the threat this year, with successful attacks in London and Manchester that killed 36 people combined.
“Twenty attacks in the U.K. have been foiled over the past four years,” Parker said. “Many more will have been prevented by the early interventions we and the police make.
