MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) — Experts have expressed growing concerns about the potential for a surge in terrorism in the UK, as an allegedly British ISIS terrorist beheaded James Foley, an American journalist, and warned the West about the Islamic State's willingness to strike.
"If ISIS becomes established in Iraq and Syria, it will undoubtedly be used as a base for launching attacks on the West. It will undoubtedly send its fighters out to attack Western targets," said Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Secretary, as cited by the Independent.
Experts stress that the British terrorists are considered to be the "most vicious and vociferous" ISIS fighters. Shiraz Maher, a specialist from King's College London's International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, underscores that British radical Sunni Muslims "are taking part in the conflicts in every way," according to the Guardian. They are serving both as executioners and suicide bombers, arriving from the UK to join the ISIS jihadi movement.
"Unfortunately, the way the Foley video is framed, it makes it very clear now that IS (ISIS) will react against any western involvement or intervention into the conflicts either in Syria or Iraq and that, of course, given that we are now helping minorities in Iraq – the Yazidis, the Kurds, for example – they regard that not just as an assault on them but they regard that ultimately as a declaration of war against Islam itself," explained Maher, warning that further western involvement in the Iraqi turmoil would inevitably lead to an increase in violence in the region.
Experts note that most of the British radicals fighting among the ISIS militants initially joined the al-Qaeda linked groups in Syria, using the Syrian battlefield as a training ground. Their main aim, however, is the establishment of a Middle Eastern caliphate.
Meanwhile the British leadership claimed the UK would provide Iraqi and Kurdish forces with weapons and technical assistance, as well as intelligence and surveillance. Philip Hammond hinted that the UK could send a limited British military contingent to Iraq "for training purposes" as well. Mr. Hammond believes that it's "far too late" to weigh the possible consequences of a Western war against ISIS in the Middle East, as "they [ISIS] are waging war on the West and we have to deal with them on that basis."
