Former Al-Qaeda member says next 9/11 is coming any day | UK | News
A former Al-Qaeda member has suggested another terror attack on a level with 9/11 could happen any day. Aimen Dean was part of the terrorist group, but he turned spy, working as an undercover agent for MI5 and MI6.
He said: “It’s not about if another 9/11 or 7/7 attack will happen, it’s about when.”
The September 11, 2001, suicide attacks in New York and Washington DC killed almost 3,000 people. Fifty-two died when four suicide bombers struck London’s public transport network on July 7, 2005.
In an interview with The Sun, Mr Dean said European angst about Russia was misplaced. He said the biggest threat to the UK and Europe is Iran.
Mr Dean, urging Britain to beef up efforts to curb the spread of Islamic fundamentalist, said more “lone wolves” would act for the Iranian regime.
MI6’s former spy inside Al-Qaeda claimed there are hundreds of sleeper agents in the UK, warning Islamic fundamentalism is more sinister as it pushes people to distrust institutions. He warned violence was “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Britain’s current terrorism threat level is “substantial”, meaning an attack is considered likely by the Government.
The latest terror attack saw two men killed and three injured when British-Syrian Jihad Al-Shamie targeted Jewish worshippers during Yom Kippur at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester on October 2.
Al-Shamie was shot dead by police after charging at officers armed with a knife and a suspected explosive device strapped round himself.
By volume, Islamist terrorism is the “most significant” terrorist threat to the country, according to MI5.
The intelligence agency says Islamist terrorists are generally driven by an extreme interpretation of Islam propagated by Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Dissident republican groups in Northern Ireland, loose networks of extreme right-wing terrorists and left-wing “single issue” or anarchist terror also pose threats.
Security Minister, Dan Jarvis, told Parliament in March that state threat investigations led by MI5 jumped 48% over the previous 12 months.
He said Iran has stepped up direct action against UK targets over recent years, pointing to MI5’s director general stating Britain has countered 20 “potentially lethal” Iranian backed plots since 2022.
Vowing to defend against such threats, Mr Jarvis said the Islamic Republic’s regime has targeted journalists, media organisations, Jewish people and Israeli citizens.
Iranian Intelligence Services, which include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, mastermind the “damaging” activity.
But Mr Jarvis said rather than working directly on UK shores, these groups use criminal proxies to follow their orders and hide their involvement.
