There has been a noticeable increase in terrorist activity in Western countries over the last two months. Following a spate of attacks in Europe, including a marauding firearms attack in Vienna, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raised the UK’s national threat level from ‘SUBSTANTIAL’ to ‘SEVERE’. The increase in the threat level was not in response to specific intelligence but reflected concern that recent attacks in Europe could inspire terrorists in Great Britain to act. Islamist extremists’ heightened intent to target Western interests was also demonstrated by an attack on diplomats at a Remembrance Day service in Saudi Arabia.
While all major terrorist attacks in Europe over the last two months have been related to Islamist extremism, Deputy Commissioner Neil Basu, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism police officer, said that right wing extremism is the fastest growing terrorist threat in the UK, specifically citing the vulnerability of minors to radicalisation by the far right.
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