There was one terrorist attack in Great Britain this month: an Improvised Explosive Device partially detonated outside the Liverpool Women’s hospital. It remains unknown if the hospital was the intended target as a Remembrance Day service was underway nearby, and the motivation for the attack is still unconfirmed. As a result of this attack, and the killing of Sir David Amess MP last month, the UK terrorism threat level was raised to SEVERE: meaning an attack is “highly likely”.
Elsewhere in Great Britain, MI6 chief Richard Moore addressed the need for the security services to work with private technology companies and the private sector to retain a technological advantage over hostile states and terrorist groups, in a constantly evolving technological “arms race”.
For the first time since the UK’s Prevent programme began, far-right referrals have overtaken referrals for Islamist extremism. However, this is not reflected in the current threat posed by extremist groups in the UK. Also, the British Government has now proscribed the political wing of Hamas as a terrorist organisation, further to the proscription of the military wing in 2001.
Further afield, in Iraq, a drone laden with explosives was used to bypass high security in an assassination attempt against the Prime Minister. Drones carrying explosives have previously been used in conflict zones, but not in the UK, which has instead seen drones used for disruption, particularly against airports.
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