Europol chief says ISIS is sending new waves of jihadis to attack Europe using fake passports
Some are even using fake Syrian documents to pose as refugees
BRITAIN is facing a rising threat of terror at the hands of ISIS fighters – after the head of Europe’s crime fighting agency warned more and more jihadis are using fake passports to enter the UK.
Europol director Rob Wainwright revealed that ISIS has been sending its fanatics to distribute fake IDs in refugee camps on the continent – in order to allow its terrorists to travel more easily within Europe.
The cop boss said the “strategic decision” was an attempt to distract attention from failures in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Mr Wainwright said some ISIS extremists were using false Syrian passports in a bid to arrive undetected — with a small but increasing number posing as refugees.
As a result he said a new squad of 200 counter- terrorism officers will be deployed to the Greek islands within weeks to spot extremists seeking entry to Europe.
The system would be modelled on the techniques of British law enforcers at Heathrow.
However he also warned of the threat of more Paris-style attacks as there is a lot of pressure on ISIS now with morale flagging in its ranks.
According to the director, there will be challenging times ahead, as people exposed to radical ideology attempt to integrate back into European society.
Speaking to the , Mr Wainwright said: “That’s going to be a long, long struggle for us to deal with the numbers involved and how we can get them back into society, plus sort out which among them pose the biggest security threat.
“Given the numbers involved, that’s quite an onerous security challenge the authorities will face. Some fighters will be sent back by IS to engage in terrorist activity. We have, in the last year and a half, seen a strategic decision by IS to do that and carry out spectacular attacks of the type we saw in France and Brussels. There will be further attempts at that kind of activity, not least as a distraction.
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“If they are having less military success in Syria then the ability to carry out spectacular attacks in Europe is an alternative way to sustain morale among their fighters and demonstrate that ISIS is still being successful. That is a strategic path ISIS is trying to take.
“On the security challenges we face, we’ll have a long-term struggle to reintegrate returning fighters, some of whom will have been sent back on mission.
“The other is the possibly even larger number who have never been to Syria but are still capable of being radicalised to carry out attacks.”
At least two of those behind the Paris attacks last November are known to have re-entered Europe from Syria via Greece using false Syrian passports.
Europol, which coordinates intelligence sharing between EU members, is working to try and bring to trial those trading in illegal arms and fake documents.
The Europol chief’s warning comes just weeks after Britain’s top cop warned that another terror attack happening in the UK was a case of “if, not when”.
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