The British intelligence agency, MI5, has warned that the Taliban’s capture of Afghanistan may have “encouraged” terrorists to carry out future 11/11 attacks.
Ken McCallum, head of MI5, told the BBC on Friday that “we need to be vigilant” because the terrorist threat is “something real and lasting”.
“Overnight you can have a psychological or moral boost for extremists who are already here or in other countries,” McCallum said of the Taliban resurgence last month.
“There is no doubt that recent events in Afghanistan will have encouraged and encouraged some of these extremists.
“So being aware of these kinds of risks is what my organization is focused on, along with a number of other threats.”
While the Taliban claimed they would not allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists plotting against the West, McCallum warned that the withdrawal of troops could give extremists a base to operate, as they did during the period prior to 9/11.
“The great concern flowing from Afghanistan, along with the immediate inspiring effect, is the risk that terrorists will reconstitute and pose us once again in the manner of well-developed and sophisticated plots of the kind we faced on the 11th. September and beyond, “he said.
McCallum said British intelligence had disrupted 31 final-stage plots against the country in the past four years.
The last major terrorist attack in the UK was in 2017, when a bomber conducted Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester and men armed with knives attacked two bridges in London.
“We face a consistent global struggle to defeat extremism and to protect ourselves from terrorism,” he said.