Six terrorist plots in the last stages of planning were disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of UK’s domestic security agency said on Friday.
Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said that the six were among 31 disrupted in the past four years by police and the security services.
Most of them were planned by Islamist militants, but a growing number were from right-wing terrorists, Mr McCallum told the BBC.
“In the last four years, working with the police, my organisation has disrupted 31 late-stage attack plots in Great Britain,” he said.
The pandemic failed to halt the threat from extremists, with police saying that online radicalisers have sought to take advantage of the vulnerable spending more time in front of their computers during the pandemic.
“This is part of our lives at this time in history and I suspect some form of this terrorism will remain with us for quite some time to come,” Mr McCallum said.
On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the US, Mr McCallum said it was too simplistic to say if Britain was now more or less safe from the threat of terrorism.
He said that on September 11, 2001, the UK was faced with a well-funded adversary in Al Qaeda with a safe haven and “we had to play catch-up in a dramatic way”.
"Five years after 9/11, we were still facing plots of that magnitude. We, with others, worked deeply and ferociously hard to reduce that style of risk from Al Qaeda."
It has led to the emergence of smaller-scale acts of terrorism inspired by ISIS. "The number of plots that we disrupt nowadays are actually higher than the number of plots that were coming at us after 9/11, but on average they are smaller plots of lower sophistication," he said.
But he said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan may lead to a greater risk of terrorist attacks in the UK.
“There is no doubt that events in Afghanistan will have heartened and emboldened some of those extremists, and so being vigilant to precisely those kinds of risks [is what] my organisation is focused on, along with a range of other threats," he said.
Tony Blair, who was prime minister at the time of the September 11 attacks, said that the overthrow of the Taliban would come from a revolt from within the country, but defended the decision to go to war in 2001.
“I don’t think if we’d left them alone after that or taken some counterterrorism measures – sent some special forces in, tried to take out the leadership – I don’t think the movement would then have died or gone away,” he told the programme.
“I think it is a genuine global, ideological movement.
“They believe it and they are going to pursue it and in the end will only be defeated, not because they give up and go away, but because they have both the ideological and security battle taken to them and in the end their own populations turn against them and defeat them.”
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
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THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
South Africa's T20 squad
Duminy (c), Behardien, Dala, De Villiers, Hendricks, Jonker, Klaasen (wkt), Miller, Morris, Paterson, Phangiso, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Smuts.
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter