"JIHAD I MALMÖ" - 1 new article
Kalifatets offensiv mot Europa
Det jihadistiska Kalifatet närmar sig
Sverige.
Jihadisternas organisationer är redan
väl förankrade i bl a Danmark.
Hur illa är läget ?
Enligt SÄPO:s väldigt försiktiga skattningar
har över 80 jihadister rest ut från Sverige
till Syrien/Irak. Minst 20 dött i strid och
omkring 30 återvänt.
Trettio tidsinställda bomber mot det
svenska samhället...
bättre kartlagda danska jihadisterna bör man
räkna med att det är en blandning av araber,
oftast från kriminella shariagäng i Bergsjön,
Rosengård, Rinkeby och liknande storstadsslum,
och relativt nyomvända svenska konvertiter...
Välinformerade
The Long War Journal gjorde nyligen en
kartläggning av Kalifatet (ISIS) aktiviteter
sedan 2013 riktade mot Västerlandet.
Här är ett utdrag om offensiven i Europa:
EUROPE
Belgium: On May 30, police arrested Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, a French national and ex-convict who traveled to Syria in January 2013 and is suspected of carrying out the May 24 shooting attack at a Jewish museum in Brussels that killed three people and severely injured a fourth victim. He was detained in Marseille while traveling from Amsterdam via Brussels. In his possession was an ISIS flag, a Kalashnikov, a handgun, and a video in which he claimed the Brussels attack. He is thought to have returned from Syria in March after fighting with the ISIS, and to have had an accomplice. He was already known to French intelligence at the time of the attack. In late June, France extradited him to Belgium.
Bosnia: On Sept. 3, security forces conducted 17 raids across the country, arresting 16 people accused offinancing, recruiting for, and fighting for radical groups in Syria and Iraq. Some of the several hundred Bosnians who headed to Syria earlier are thought to be now fighting in Iraq with the Islamic State. In late August, Bosnian intelligence estimated that some 150 Bosnians were fighting with Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Denmark: In early September, police arrested the president of the Copenhagen-based Islamic charity Humanitarian Hearts (De Humanitære Hjerter) for supporting the Islamic State, and also detained two women involved in the organization's work. The main suspect, said to be a Libyan-born stateless person, is accused ofcollecting money for the IS. Fadi Abdallah, a spokesperson for the terrorism-linked Grimhøj Mosque in Aarhus, said that the mosque "cannot help but support the IS" and that he "understand[s] why they are killing people." Denmarkis said to rank behind only Belgium among Western countries in having the highest per capita number of nationals fighting in Syria.
In June, authorities issued arrest warrants for four men, including two Danish speakers, who appeared in an August 2013 video from Syria in which they targeted effigies of former secret agent Morten Storm, free speech advocate Lars Hedegaard, politician Naser Khader, the imam Ahmed Akkari, former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Abu Sa'ad, a Danish suicide bomber, reportedly carried out an attack for the ISIS in Mosul, Iraq on May 20. Danish intelligence says that 100 people have left Denmark to fight in Syria, and many have returned, but so far none have been prosecuted.
In February 2013, it was reported that former Guantanamo detainee Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane had been killed fighting in Syria; a group named Islamisk Budskab in Denmark, which was linked to ISIS predecessor al Qaeda in Iraq, celebrated his martyrdom and set up a bank account for donations to support Abderrahmane's wife and two daughters.
France: In late August, French authorities arrested ISIS operative Fayez Boushran, who holds dual French and Moroccan citizenship, on his return to France, after prompting by Lebanese security officials. Boushan had confessed to arriving in Beirut in June for an ISIS bomb plot in Lebanon along with another would-be suicide bomber who was originally from the Comoros Islands.
On Aug. 20, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that the Islamic State's ambitions extend beyond the Middle East, and said France wants the UN Security Council nations as well as countries in the region to join the fight against the Islamic State. President Francois Hollande said the world security situation was at its gravest since 2001, and called for an international conference that pools military and intelligence resources to come up with "a global strategy" to address the Islamic State's terrorism.
On Aug. 13, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said nearly 900 French citizens have traveled to Iraq or Syria to fight, and that some of them have joined the Islamic State.
In April, the Defense Ministry denied a report that the government paid a ransom of $18 million for the release of four French journalists who were were kidnapped in Syria by the ISIS in June 2013. According to the report, Defense Minister LeDrian took the ransom money to Ankara, where Turkish secret services helped transfer it to the kidnappers.
Germany: On Sept. 2, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the Islamic State now controls an area half the size of Germany, and said the terror group is causing "the far-reaching destabilization of an entire region [which] affects Germany and Europe." Defending Germany's decision to send arms to Kurdish fighters in Iraq battling the Islamic State, she also said the more than 400 Germans who have joined the ranks of the IS present a direct threat to Germany. Some 20 former German soldiers are known to have joined jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency said the Islamic State's brutality has made it "much more attractive" to radicalized German Muslims than the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's branch in Syria.
On June 25, authorities charged Kreshnik B., a German citizen from Frankfurt am Main, with membership in the ISIS. Following his return from Syria, he was arrested on suspicion of planning attacks. Authorities were investigating the German Brigade of Millatu Ibrahim, whose leader, Denis Cuspert a.k.a. Deso Dogg a.k.a. Abu Talha al-Almani, is now fighting for ISIS. Interior Minister de Maiziere recently expressed concern that Islamists from Germany are cooperating with ISIS in Iraq as well as in Syria.
On June 5, a Lebanese man identified as Ismail I. was charged with membership in a terrorist organization after returning from fighting with ISIS in Syria; his brother Ezzeddine I. and a German identified as Mohammad Sobhan A. were charged with supporting a terrorist organization. At the time of his arrest, Ismail was on his way back to Syria with money, military equipment, and medicine that he had obtained with the help of the other two men. He had allegedly been sent back to Germany by ISIS to procure money and supplies for the group.
Kosovo: On the night of Aug. 10-11, police carried out some 60 raids across the country in a crackdown on Islamic extremists, arresting 40 men suspected of either fighting for, or supporting, the Islamic State or the Al Nusrah Front. Makeshift mosques were raided and weapons, ammunition, electronic equipment, and explosives were confiscated.
Luxembourg: In July, Luxembourg police working with Spanish counterterrorism authorities arrested Belgian national Abou Nouh a.k.a. Davide De Angelis, a former jihadist in Syria who served as a facilitator for an ISIS recruiting network that funneled fighters to Syria and Mali.
Norway: In late August, authorities refused to comment on a report that the July 24 terror alert was triggered by warnings that four Islamic State operatives were on their way to Norway via Greece to commit a major attack. Authorities reportedly said that two Norwegians answer directly to IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi; one is Bastian Vasquez, of Skien, and the other is of African origin and lived in Boerum.
On July 24, security police warned of a "credible" threat of an imminent terrorist attack against targets in Norway by people connected with Islamic extremists in Syria. The attack was reportedly planned in Europe. Security measures were stepped up, and both the City Hall and the Royal Palace in Oslo were closed to tourists.
On May 27, police arrested a Somali and two Kosovans, all Norwegian citizens residing in Oslo, suspected of supporting the ISIS. The two Kosovans are brothers who reportedly fought in Syria and had a brother who died there. At least 50 Norwegians were thought to have traveled to Syria for jihad, and seven have died there, all fighting for the ISIS.
In early May, Albanian and Norwegian media noted the death in Syria of Egzon Avdyli, an ethnic Kosovan from Norway killed while fighting for ISIS. Avdyli, a former spokesman for the Norwegian radical Islamist group Prophet's Ummah, reportedly left Norway for Syria early this year. Avdyli had encouraged young people to travel to Syria for jihad and also "supported the establishment of an Islamic state in Norway or other Western countries." Norwegian intelligence said it considered the danger of jihadists returning from Syria to be the most significant terror threat to Norway. [See Threat Matrix report, Norwegian Islamist who fought for ISIS killed in Syria.]
In February, Norwegian intelligence warned that at least 40 or 50 Norwegians, including about a dozen women, were known to have traveled to Syria to fight and that they have most often joined extremist groups such as the ISIS.
Spain: In July, authorities said at least 35 Spaniards are estimated to have joined the ranks of rebel fighters in Syria, and most are thought to have joined the Islamic State.
On April 30, Spanish security forces working with French police arrested Abdelmalek Tanem, an Algerian national who also has French citizenship, in Almeria. He had recently returned from Syria, where he worked as a facilitator along the Turkish border, integrating European jihadists into the ISIS and the Al Nusrah Front.
In mid-March, Spanish and Moroccan authorities targeting an al Qaeda recruiting network arrested four suspected members in Spain and three in Morocco. The network, whose activities extend to Morocco, Belgium, France, Tunisia, Turkey, Libya, Mali, Indonesia, and Syria, is headed by Melilla resident Mustafa Maya Amaya, who funneled recruits to the ISIS, the Al Nusrah Front, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Some of the suspects arrested in the operation had returned home after going to conflict zones such as Syria; and in January, a suspected jihadist returning from Syria was arrested in Malaga as a potential "threat to national security," CNN reported.
Sweden: On Aug. 13, Sweden's intelligence service was said to be investigating reports that during a TV interview, an Islamic State supporter from Sweden named Sheikh Ahmed threatened violence in the country and war against Sweden and Europe. An estimated 80 Swedes are said to be fighting for rebel groups in Syria.
In May 2013, a government report said there are currently at least 30 Swedish nationals fighting with "groups similar to al Qaeda" in Syria. The report called Sweden "far behind" other EU countries in preventing militant Islamism, and recommended that travel abroad for terror training be outlawed. The report said while Germany has a program for former jihadists, not one Swedish jihadist is thought to have defected from that ideology.
United Kingdom: On Sept. 4, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the Islamic State presents a direct threat to the UK, noting IS-inspired attacks in Europe. He did not rule out launching airstrikes against the group in Syria, and said the UK did not need permission to do so from Syrian President Bashar al Assad. He indicated that UK authorities are in contact with the Islamic State kidnappers of a British hostage but reiterated the government's stance against paying ransoms.
On Aug. 21, it was reported that Khadijah Dare, 22, a Lewisham woman married to a Swedish IS fighter who calls himself Abu Bakr, had vowed to become the first woman to behead a British or US prisoner; she is thought to be in Syria with her husband and young son. Brustchom Ziamani, 19, a Congolese convert to Islam, was arrested in Camberwell on Aug. 19 while carrying a bag with a hammer and a knife wrapped in an Islamic flag; he has been charged with preparing terrorist acts. The suspect had said he intended to commit a Lee Rigby-type attack on UK military or government personnel.
On Aug. 20, Foreign Secretary Hammond said the Islamic State jihadist whose videotaped murder of US journalist James Foley was filmed appears to be British, and warned that "there are a significant number of British nationalsin Syria and Iraq operating with extremist organisations" and accordingly that the Islamic State presents "a direct threat to the UK's national security."
On Aug. 14, Scotland Yard chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said about half of the estimated 500 British jihadists in Syria and Iraq are from London, and warned that the task of addressing the threat posed by their return to the UKshould not be underestimated. UK jihadist Nasser Muthana, an Islamic State fighter, posted photos of IEDs he made in Syria on social media. British police are investigating the distribution of leaflets on London's Oxford Street urging Muslims to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.
In late July, British ambassador Peter Westmacott warned that among the 70 UK jihadists arrested after returning to Britain, a number were carrying "very specific" instructions for terrorist missions in the UK. British intelligence said it was close to identifying the Islamic State jihadist who beheaded American journalist James Foley; among those being investigated is UK rapper-turned-jihadist Abdel Majed Abdel Bary.
In June, an ISIS recruitment video surfaced featuring three Britons and two Australians calling for Westerners to come to Iraq and Syria for jihad. MI5 made tracking British jihadists in Syria its top priority. The counterterrorism chief for the Kurdistan Regional Government said ISIS would likely use its surviving British jihadists to mount attacks against the UK; he also claimed that KRG intelligence told the US and Iraq in January that ISIS was planning to seize Mosul and advance on Baghdad but the warnings were ignored.
On May 20, Mashudur Choudhury, 31, became the first Briton convicted of a Syria-related terrorism crime. The former youth worker at a Portsmouth mosque had traveled to Syria in October with four other men to join the ISIS, and was detained upon his return.
In February, British authorities were said to be "closely monitoring" some 250 British jihadists who have fought in Syria and returned home. A British fighter with the ISIS in Syria appeared in a YouTube clip warning aspiring British jihadists of the difficulties of the battle zone. Earlier that month, a British jihadist of Afghan origin called Abu Laythwas reported killed while fighting for the ISIS in clashes with rebels; he is said to be the seventh British jihadist killed in Syria.
In January, a Syrian defector from the ISIS said the terror group is training British, European, and American recruits to conduct terror attacks in their home countries. Some 500 British fighters were believed to have traveled to Syria, and about 50 were thought to have already returned home. Jihadists in Syria seeking to return to their home countries are reportedly funneled through al Qaeda safe houses in Turkey.
In December 2013, family members said that well-known British jihadist Ifthekar Jaman a.k.a. Abu Aburahman died in Syria while fighting along
Belgium: On May 30, police arrested Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, a French national and ex-convict who traveled to Syria in January 2013 and is suspected of carrying out the May 24 shooting attack at a Jewish museum in Brussels that killed three people and severely injured a fourth victim. He was detained in Marseille while traveling from Amsterdam via Brussels. In his possession was an ISIS flag, a Kalashnikov, a handgun, and a video in which he claimed the Brussels attack. He is thought to have returned from Syria in March after fighting with the ISIS, and to have had an accomplice. He was already known to French intelligence at the time of the attack. In late June, France extradited him to Belgium.
Bosnia: On Sept. 3, security forces conducted 17 raids across the country, arresting 16 people accused offinancing, recruiting for, and fighting for radical groups in Syria and Iraq. Some of the several hundred Bosnians who headed to Syria earlier are thought to be now fighting in Iraq with the Islamic State. In late August, Bosnian intelligence estimated that some 150 Bosnians were fighting with Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Denmark: In early September, police arrested the president of the Copenhagen-based Islamic charity Humanitarian Hearts (De Humanitære Hjerter) for supporting the Islamic State, and also detained two women involved in the organization's work. The main suspect, said to be a Libyan-born stateless person, is accused ofcollecting money for the IS. Fadi Abdallah, a spokesperson for the terrorism-linked Grimhøj Mosque in Aarhus, said that the mosque "cannot help but support the IS" and that he "understand[s] why they are killing people." Denmarkis said to rank behind only Belgium among Western countries in having the highest per capita number of nationals fighting in Syria.
In June, authorities issued arrest warrants for four men, including two Danish speakers, who appeared in an August 2013 video from Syria in which they targeted effigies of former secret agent Morten Storm, free speech advocate Lars Hedegaard, politician Naser Khader, the imam Ahmed Akkari, former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Abu Sa'ad, a Danish suicide bomber, reportedly carried out an attack for the ISIS in Mosul, Iraq on May 20. Danish intelligence says that 100 people have left Denmark to fight in Syria, and many have returned, but so far none have been prosecuted.
In February 2013, it was reported that former Guantanamo detainee Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane had been killed fighting in Syria; a group named Islamisk Budskab in Denmark, which was linked to ISIS predecessor al Qaeda in Iraq, celebrated his martyrdom and set up a bank account for donations to support Abderrahmane's wife and two daughters.
France: In late August, French authorities arrested ISIS operative Fayez Boushran, who holds dual French and Moroccan citizenship, on his return to France, after prompting by Lebanese security officials. Boushan had confessed to arriving in Beirut in June for an ISIS bomb plot in Lebanon along with another would-be suicide bomber who was originally from the Comoros Islands.
On Aug. 20, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that the Islamic State's ambitions extend beyond the Middle East, and said France wants the UN Security Council nations as well as countries in the region to join the fight against the Islamic State. President Francois Hollande said the world security situation was at its gravest since 2001, and called for an international conference that pools military and intelligence resources to come up with "a global strategy" to address the Islamic State's terrorism.
On Aug. 13, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said nearly 900 French citizens have traveled to Iraq or Syria to fight, and that some of them have joined the Islamic State.
In April, the Defense Ministry denied a report that the government paid a ransom of $18 million for the release of four French journalists who were were kidnapped in Syria by the ISIS in June 2013. According to the report, Defense Minister LeDrian took the ransom money to Ankara, where Turkish secret services helped transfer it to the kidnappers.
Germany: On Sept. 2, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the Islamic State now controls an area half the size of Germany, and said the terror group is causing "the far-reaching destabilization of an entire region [which] affects Germany and Europe." Defending Germany's decision to send arms to Kurdish fighters in Iraq battling the Islamic State, she also said the more than 400 Germans who have joined the ranks of the IS present a direct threat to Germany. Some 20 former German soldiers are known to have joined jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency said the Islamic State's brutality has made it "much more attractive" to radicalized German Muslims than the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's branch in Syria.
On June 25, authorities charged Kreshnik B., a German citizen from Frankfurt am Main, with membership in the ISIS. Following his return from Syria, he was arrested on suspicion of planning attacks. Authorities were investigating the German Brigade of Millatu Ibrahim, whose leader, Denis Cuspert a.k.a. Deso Dogg a.k.a. Abu Talha al-Almani, is now fighting for ISIS. Interior Minister de Maiziere recently expressed concern that Islamists from Germany are cooperating with ISIS in Iraq as well as in Syria.
On June 5, a Lebanese man identified as Ismail I. was charged with membership in a terrorist organization after returning from fighting with ISIS in Syria; his brother Ezzeddine I. and a German identified as Mohammad Sobhan A. were charged with supporting a terrorist organization. At the time of his arrest, Ismail was on his way back to Syria with money, military equipment, and medicine that he had obtained with the help of the other two men. He had allegedly been sent back to Germany by ISIS to procure money and supplies for the group.
Kosovo: On the night of Aug. 10-11, police carried out some 60 raids across the country in a crackdown on Islamic extremists, arresting 40 men suspected of either fighting for, or supporting, the Islamic State or the Al Nusrah Front. Makeshift mosques were raided and weapons, ammunition, electronic equipment, and explosives were confiscated.
Luxembourg: In July, Luxembourg police working with Spanish counterterrorism authorities arrested Belgian national Abou Nouh a.k.a. Davide De Angelis, a former jihadist in Syria who served as a facilitator for an ISIS recruiting network that funneled fighters to Syria and Mali.
Norway: In late August, authorities refused to comment on a report that the July 24 terror alert was triggered by warnings that four Islamic State operatives were on their way to Norway via Greece to commit a major attack. Authorities reportedly said that two Norwegians answer directly to IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi; one is Bastian Vasquez, of Skien, and the other is of African origin and lived in Boerum.
On July 24, security police warned of a "credible" threat of an imminent terrorist attack against targets in Norway by people connected with Islamic extremists in Syria. The attack was reportedly planned in Europe. Security measures were stepped up, and both the City Hall and the Royal Palace in Oslo were closed to tourists.
On May 27, police arrested a Somali and two Kosovans, all Norwegian citizens residing in Oslo, suspected of supporting the ISIS. The two Kosovans are brothers who reportedly fought in Syria and had a brother who died there. At least 50 Norwegians were thought to have traveled to Syria for jihad, and seven have died there, all fighting for the ISIS.
In early May, Albanian and Norwegian media noted the death in Syria of Egzon Avdyli, an ethnic Kosovan from Norway killed while fighting for ISIS. Avdyli, a former spokesman for the Norwegian radical Islamist group Prophet's Ummah, reportedly left Norway for Syria early this year. Avdyli had encouraged young people to travel to Syria for jihad and also "supported the establishment of an Islamic state in Norway or other Western countries." Norwegian intelligence said it considered the danger of jihadists returning from Syria to be the most significant terror threat to Norway. [See Threat Matrix report, Norwegian Islamist who fought for ISIS killed in Syria.]
In February, Norwegian intelligence warned that at least 40 or 50 Norwegians, including about a dozen women, were known to have traveled to Syria to fight and that they have most often joined extremist groups such as the ISIS.
Spain: In July, authorities said at least 35 Spaniards are estimated to have joined the ranks of rebel fighters in Syria, and most are thought to have joined the Islamic State.
On April 30, Spanish security forces working with French police arrested Abdelmalek Tanem, an Algerian national who also has French citizenship, in Almeria. He had recently returned from Syria, where he worked as a facilitator along the Turkish border, integrating European jihadists into the ISIS and the Al Nusrah Front.
In mid-March, Spanish and Moroccan authorities targeting an al Qaeda recruiting network arrested four suspected members in Spain and three in Morocco. The network, whose activities extend to Morocco, Belgium, France, Tunisia, Turkey, Libya, Mali, Indonesia, and Syria, is headed by Melilla resident Mustafa Maya Amaya, who funneled recruits to the ISIS, the Al Nusrah Front, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Some of the suspects arrested in the operation had returned home after going to conflict zones such as Syria; and in January, a suspected jihadist returning from Syria was arrested in Malaga as a potential "threat to national security," CNN reported.
Sweden: On Aug. 13, Sweden's intelligence service was said to be investigating reports that during a TV interview, an Islamic State supporter from Sweden named Sheikh Ahmed threatened violence in the country and war against Sweden and Europe. An estimated 80 Swedes are said to be fighting for rebel groups in Syria.
In May 2013, a government report said there are currently at least 30 Swedish nationals fighting with "groups similar to al Qaeda" in Syria. The report called Sweden "far behind" other EU countries in preventing militant Islamism, and recommended that travel abroad for terror training be outlawed. The report said while Germany has a program for former jihadists, not one Swedish jihadist is thought to have defected from that ideology.
United Kingdom: On Sept. 4, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the Islamic State presents a direct threat to the UK, noting IS-inspired attacks in Europe. He did not rule out launching airstrikes against the group in Syria, and said the UK did not need permission to do so from Syrian President Bashar al Assad. He indicated that UK authorities are in contact with the Islamic State kidnappers of a British hostage but reiterated the government's stance against paying ransoms.
On Aug. 21, it was reported that Khadijah Dare, 22, a Lewisham woman married to a Swedish IS fighter who calls himself Abu Bakr, had vowed to become the first woman to behead a British or US prisoner; she is thought to be in Syria with her husband and young son. Brustchom Ziamani, 19, a Congolese convert to Islam, was arrested in Camberwell on Aug. 19 while carrying a bag with a hammer and a knife wrapped in an Islamic flag; he has been charged with preparing terrorist acts. The suspect had said he intended to commit a Lee Rigby-type attack on UK military or government personnel.
On Aug. 20, Foreign Secretary Hammond said the Islamic State jihadist whose videotaped murder of US journalist James Foley was filmed appears to be British, and warned that "there are a significant number of British nationalsin Syria and Iraq operating with extremist organisations" and accordingly that the Islamic State presents "a direct threat to the UK's national security."
On Aug. 14, Scotland Yard chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said about half of the estimated 500 British jihadists in Syria and Iraq are from London, and warned that the task of addressing the threat posed by their return to the UKshould not be underestimated. UK jihadist Nasser Muthana, an Islamic State fighter, posted photos of IEDs he made in Syria on social media. British police are investigating the distribution of leaflets on London's Oxford Street urging Muslims to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.
In late July, British ambassador Peter Westmacott warned that among the 70 UK jihadists arrested after returning to Britain, a number were carrying "very specific" instructions for terrorist missions in the UK. British intelligence said it was close to identifying the Islamic State jihadist who beheaded American journalist James Foley; among those being investigated is UK rapper-turned-jihadist Abdel Majed Abdel Bary.
In June, an ISIS recruitment video surfaced featuring three Britons and two Australians calling for Westerners to come to Iraq and Syria for jihad. MI5 made tracking British jihadists in Syria its top priority. The counterterrorism chief for the Kurdistan Regional Government said ISIS would likely use its surviving British jihadists to mount attacks against the UK; he also claimed that KRG intelligence told the US and Iraq in January that ISIS was planning to seize Mosul and advance on Baghdad but the warnings were ignored.
On May 20, Mashudur Choudhury, 31, became the first Briton convicted of a Syria-related terrorism crime. The former youth worker at a Portsmouth mosque had traveled to Syria in October with four other men to join the ISIS, and was detained upon his return.
In February, British authorities were said to be "closely monitoring" some 250 British jihadists who have fought in Syria and returned home. A British fighter with the ISIS in Syria appeared in a YouTube clip warning aspiring British jihadists of the difficulties of the battle zone. Earlier that month, a British jihadist of Afghan origin called Abu Laythwas reported killed while fighting for the ISIS in clashes with rebels; he is said to be the seventh British jihadist killed in Syria.
In January, a Syrian defector from the ISIS said the terror group is training British, European, and American recruits to conduct terror attacks in their home countries. Some 500 British fighters were believed to have traveled to Syria, and about 50 were thought to have already returned home. Jihadists in Syria seeking to return to their home countries are reportedly funneled through al Qaeda safe houses in Turkey.
In December 2013, family members said that well-known British jihadist Ifthekar Jaman a.k.a. Abu Aburahman died in Syria while fighting along
