In a rare public address, Ken McCallum, the Director General of MI5, warned that the UK is facing a “resurgent” threat from ISIS and Al Qaeda. He noted that more than one in eight individuals currently under investigation for terrorism are minors, marking a three-fold increase since 2021. McCallum highlighted that over a third of the agency’s recent investigations are linked to international terrorist groups, emphasizing ISIS’s renewed attempts to export terrorism following the fall of its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
McCallum also pointed to the growing risk of state-sponsored sabotage from nations such as Russia and Iran, stating that MI5 has responded to 20 Iran-backed terror plots in the UK since early 2022. He indicated that the agency is facing a unique challenge, with simultaneous threats from both homegrown terrorism and state-sponsored operations.
Highlighting the alarming trend of increasing youth involvement in extremist activities, McCallum provided examples of recent convictions of British teenagers involved in planning attacks and disseminating terrorist propaganda. The overall security landscape is changing, necessitating heightened vigilance against both established terrorist organizations and emerging threats.
