British Army Soldier Attacked

• Whilst the above incident has not been declared as terrorism, it is almost certain that terrorist actors would have the intent to conduct attacks against members of the British military.
   
• It is highly likely that any terrorist attack conducted against members of the British military in the UK would be conducted by an Islamist-inspired terrorist due to the ideologically driven intent to conduct attacks against members of the British armed forces.
   
• Terrorist actors have previously demonstrated the intent and capability to conduct attacks against members of the British armed forces in the UK, including:   
  • 2024 – Leeds – Mohammad Farooq, 28, of Hetton Road in Leeds, was found guilty of preparing for an act of terrorism. Farooq had identified two potential targets for an attack; RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire and St James’s Hospital in Leeds where he was a student nurse. He conducted hostile reconnaissance at the RAF base on three separate occasions but found the site to be too well guarded. Farooq later decided to target the “softer and less well-protected target” of St. James’s Hospital {7}{8}{9}. 
  • 2023 – Essex – Matthew King, 19, was sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting to conduct a terrorist attack against British soldiers and police officers. King reportedly expressed online a desire to kill a British Marine and had conducted hostile reconnaissance outside an army barracks. He had previously wanted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State {10}. 
  • 2017 – Birmingham – Tahir Aziz, Mohibur Rahman, Naweed Ali, and Khobaib Hussain were convicted for plotting an Islamist-inspired terrorist attack against members of the police or military. The men were arrested on 26 August 2016 after a bag of weapons, including a pipe bomb, an air pistol and a meat cleaver were found in Naweed Ali’s car {11}. 
  • 2016 – East Anglia – Junead Khan, 25 was sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting a terrorist attack against a US airman outside of a military base in East Anglia. A bomb making manual and searches for a large combat knife were found on the individuals laptop {12}.  
  • 2013 – Woolwich – Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale murdered Lee Rigby, a British soldier, outside of Woolwich barracks in South London. The pair conducted an Islamist-inspired Vehicle as a Weapon and Bladed Weapons attack against Rigby. Recorded by a member of the public following the attack, Adebolajo reportedly claimed that “the only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” {13}.
     
• The use of a Bladed Weapon to conduct this attack is consistent with recent UK terrorism threat trends, where ease of access to Bladed Weapons and the low sophistication methodology needed to conduct a Bladed Weapons attack has led to an increase in the number of this type of attack in the UK and overseas.
   
•  It is highly likely that any terrorist attack conducted in the UK would be conducted by an individual or small cell using a low sophistication methodology. E.g., Bladed or Blunt Force Weapons, Vehicle as a Weapon, or Fire as a Weapon.  

Intelligence Cut-Off Date: 06 August 2024