Radicalization
Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, the Security Service (MI5), defines radicalization as “[t]he process by which people come to support terrorism and violent extremism and, in some cases, then join terrorist groups.” The United Kingdom currently faces a particularly acute challenge in this respect. As of October 2016, approximately 850 British citizens have gone to fight for jihadist organizations in Iraq and Syria. In January 2016, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond disclosed that “600 British citizens had been intercepted while trying to reach Syria” since 2012, attributing the interceptions to closer cooperation with Turkish authorities. Even by the most conservative estimated figures, Britons comprise one of the largest foreign elements within ISIS ranks. As a result, about 50 people are referred to de-radicalization programs every week in the country. (Sources: Guardian, Telegraph, Guardian, Telegraph, BBC News, BBC News)
MI5 is especially concerned with the trend of U.K. nationals traveling to undergo radicalization in three key territories: Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) for terrorism training; Yemen to join al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP); and Somalia to fight with al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist terrorist group. On the latter, the former head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, has stated, “It is only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside al-Shabab.” (Sources: MI5, Guardian, Financial Times)
Head of British intelligence agency MI6 Alex Younger said in December 2016 that ISIS is “plotting ways to project violence against the UK and our allies without ever having to leave Syria.” In October 2016, London’s Metropolitan police revealed that U.K. security and counterterrorism services had foiled at least 10 terrorist plots since fall 2014. In the same period, there were 294 convictions for terrorist-related offences. In November 2014, then-U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May disclosed that 40 terror plots against the country had been thwarted since the 7/7 London bombings of 2005, including “a Mumbai style gun attack, the murder of members of the armed forces, an attempt to bring down a plane and the assassination of an ambassador.” (Sources: Guardian, Guardian, Guardian)
According to the Guardian, it was reported that in April 2020, counterterrorism officials claimed to fear a rise in terrorist recruits following a drastic decrease—around 50 percent—in referrals to the UK’s main anti-radicalization scheme, Prevent. Given the restrictions in place due to the coronavirus, it is likely that those who generally refer individuals with radical leanings to Prevent have not been able to meet with people and offer the support to deter radicalization. (Source: Guardian)
Anjem Choudary
In February 2015, 19-year-old Brusthom Ziamani was found guilty of plotting to behead a British soldier. Ziamani was inspired by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who beheaded Fusilier Lee Rigby near Rigby’s Woolwich barracks in southeast London on May 22, 2013. Ziamani, like Adebolajo and Adebowale, was sentenced to 22 years in jail after being found guilty in February 2015. (Sources: Telegraph, London Evening Standard)
In September 2016, Choudary was convicted of supporting ISIS and sentenced to prison for five-and-a-half years.
All three men are believed to have been indoctrinated by Anjem Choudary, a self-styled Islamist cleric who British law enforcement believe is connected to more than 80 individuals implicated in terrorism cases in the United Kingdom. In September 2016, Choudary was convicted of supporting ISIS and sentenced to prison for five-and-a-half years. Following the sentencing of Choudary and co-defendant Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said, “The country is safer. All their evil words and dissent they’ve tried to sow throughout society is over. They’re paying the price and they’re going to jail.” Due to U.K. probationary law, Choudary was released October 19, 2018, only halfway through his sentence. British authorities imposed several restrictions on Choudary’s communications and travel. In addition, the United Nations and British government added Choudary to their respective financial sanctions lists ahead of his release. (Sources: Independent, BBC News, Guardian, Evening Standard, BBC News)
A lawyer by training, Choudary had evaded imprisonment for many years by walking a fine line between permitted speech under British laws and hate speech, despite continuously advocating sharia in the West. Nevertheless, the “family man,” allegedly subsidized in full by U.K. welfare programs, had been on the British government and law enforcement’s radar for many years. In September 2014, then-Home Secretary Theresa May proposed significantly more stringent domestic counter-extremism measures to silence Islamist preachers like Choudary. (Sources: Independent, Daily Beast, Washington Post, Daily Mail)
Choudary criticized British involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and defended the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks in London and Madrid. He also organized a protest against the Jyllands-Posten (Danish cartoons) controversy despite being denied a permit, for which Choudary was fined 500 pounds. One placard at the event stated, “Massacre those who insult Islam.” In August 2014, some of Choudary’s students in east London were found handing out pro-ISIS literature. Choudary was arrested in September 2014 on terrorism-related charges, but was later released on bail. In August 2015, Choudary was charged for encouraging support of ISIS, contrary to Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. (Sources: Guardian, Daily Mail, Channel 4 News, Guardian)
Choudary was also an active leader in al-Muhajiroun, a U.K.-based Islamist organization founded in 1983 by Choudary’s mentor, Omar Bakri Muhammad. The Independent reported that the group is connected to approximately half the terror attacks committed in the United Kingdom between 1995 and 2015. A counterterrorism unit of the New York Police Department (NYPD) believes that al-Muhajiroun and its numerous front organizations have as many as 1,500 followers in the United Kingdom and possibly another 1,500 abroad. Al-Muhajiroun’s front groups in the United Kingdom include Call to Submission, Islamic Path, London School of Sharia, the Saved Sect of Savior Sect, and the Sharia4 network. In February 2019, British media reported a revival of al-Muhajiroun thanks to the recent release of several former members from British prisons. More than 25 members of al-Muhajiroun—including Choudary—were released from prison in 2018. According to British NGO Hope Not Hate, the release of prominent al-Muhajiroun members inspired a new generation of activists to restart the group’s street proselytization. British police were reportedly working to disrupt new al-Muhajiroun plots. (Sources: Independent, Guardian, BBC News, Guardian, Hope Not Hate, Independent)
Formed by Choudary in 2010, the now-banned Sharia4 network has chapters outside the United Kingdom including Sharia4Belgium, Sharia4Italy, Sharia4America, Sharia4Indonesia, and Sharia4Holland. In September 2014, 46 members of Sharia4Belgium went on trial in Antwerp in Belgium’s largest Islamic extremism case to date. Only eight defendants were present in court, with the rest presumed to be in Syria. This network has also become an apparent facilitator in the flow of some of the thousands of Europeans who have entered Iraq and Syria to join ISIS. Choudary reportedly acknowledged that his followers have a habit of “popping up” in Syria. Choudary has also previously stated his intention to travel to Syria. (Sources: Washington Post, Guardian, BBC News, Guardian, Washington Post)
Choudary’s influence abroad is also significant. ISIS foreign fighter numbers from Indonesia surged soon after he spoke at the Sharia4TheWorld rally in Indonesia in October 2014. (Source: Washington Post)
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, also known as Abu Baraa, is a British preacher and convicted ISIS supporter from Palmers Green, north London. In November 2006, Rahman was convicted of promoting racial hatred during a rally at the Danish embassy in London, during which he also called for 9/11 style attacks in Iraq and Europe. The following July, Rahman was sentenced to six years in prison for calling for British soldiers to return from Iraq in body bags. Rahman participated in the British de-radicalization program Prevent, and was released from prison in 2010. (Sources: BBC News, Daily Mail, Crown Prosecution Service, Reuters)
In May 2014, Rahman again came under police investigation following his praise of Boko Haram militants after the group kidnapped more than 300 Nigerian schoolgirls. Rahman defended the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris during a January 2015 sermon, stating that by “insulting Islam…they can’t expect a different result.” Rahman declared Great Britain “the enemy of Islam,” and claimed France was carrying out “ethnic cleansing.” He defended the Charlie Hebdo attack as a “war.” (Source: Crown Prosecution Service, Daily Mail)
Rahman and Anjem Choudary were arrested in September 2014 for suspected membership in ISIS, and Rahman was charged that August with encouraging public support for ISIS. They were both convicted in June 2016 on charges of soliciting support for ISIS. That September, Rahman and Choudary were each sentenced to five years and six months in prison. (Sources: CNN, BBC News, Crown Prosecution Service, New York Times)
Abu Izzadeen
Born Trevor Brooks, Abu Izzadeen is a former electrician who considers himself the “Director for Waltham Forest Muslims” in north London. Izzadeen has been in and out of prison since 2008, when he was convicted of inciting terrorism. He was released early in 2009, but repeatedly sent back to prison for violating his parole. In 2014, Izzadeen and two of his followers were sentenced to two years and 10 months for harassing the public as a self-styled “Muslim Patrol.” The vigilantism was part of Izzadeen’s campaign to make Waltham Britain’s first suburban borough governed under sharia. (Sources: Telegraph, BBC News, Daily Mail, BBC News, BBC News)
Izzadeen is married with three children and, like Choudary and Rahman, relies on welfare. Choudary refers to such assistance as “the jihad-seekers allowance.” All three men are believed to be connected to Choudary’s Muslims against Crusades organization and are, therefore, no longer permitted to speak to Choudary. (Sources: Daily Mail, Telegraph)
In April 2015, the British Home Office denied Izzadeen’s request for a passport based on a belief he would likely try to join ISIS. Nonetheless, Izzadeen was arrested on November 14, 2015, aboard a Romania-bound train at the Hungarian border. After British authorities issued an arrest warrant for Izzadeen, Hungary deported him back to Great Britain. In January 2016, British authorities sentenced him to two years in prison. (Sources: Daily Mail, Guardian, Associated Press, Guardian)
Omar Bakri Mohammad
Omar Bakri Mohammad is the founder of al-Muhajiroun. He originally entered the United Kingdom in the 1980s as a political asylee from Saudi Arabia, which had expelled him for his Islamist proselytizing. In 1986, Bakri and Anjem Choudary created the British chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Bakri was arrested in 2005 for his connections to terrorist plots and terrorist-related organizations, which include al-Muhajiroun and its front groups. Days after his arrest, Bakri fled the country, and Britain banned him from returning because of his links to radical groups. Like Choudary, Bakri has glorified the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks and other acts of Islamist violence. While under investigation, Bakri fled to Lebanon in 2005. Lebanese authorities arrested Bakri on terrorism charges in 2010. Bakri was sentenced to life in prison in Lebanon, but was released after witnesses recanted their testimony. Bakri was arrested again in Beirut in May 2014 on terrorism-related charges. In October 2015, he was sentenced to six years of hard labor for funding an organization affiliated with the Nusra Front and building training camps in Lebanon. (Sources: BBC News, New York Times, New York Times, Independent, Daily Mail)
Bakri’s family is still in the United Kingdom and is trying to gain permission for his return. Unlike Choudary, law enforcement was able to connect Bakri to Michael Adebolajo’s conversion to Islam. Adebolajo was an accomplice in the Lee Rigby murder. Bakri has also been linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the January 2015 Paris attacks. Abaaoud has been connected to the banned Islamist group Sharia4Belgium, for which Bakri helped transport fighters to Syria. (Sources: Independent, Daily Mail)
Abu Hamza and the Finsbury Park Mosque
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (“Abu Hamza al-Masri” or “Abu Hamza”) is an Egyptian-British citizen and U.S.- and U.N.-sanctioned terrorist associated with al-Qaeda. In 1987, Abu Hamza traveled to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where he met with the spiritual leader of the Afghan Mujahideen movement, Abdullah Azzam. He then traveled to Afghanistan to work on a Saudi rebuilding project after the Afghan-Soviet war. There, he lost both hands and an eye, reportedly in a demining operation, though accounts vary. (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Telegraph, BBC News, BBC News, U.S. Department of Justice)
In 1997, Abu Hamza arrived at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London. Abu Hamza associated remotely with Yemen-based extremist figures, even claiming to serve as the “legal officer” for the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic Army of Aden terrorist group. In 1999, Scotland Yard questioned him about alleged bomb plots in Yemen. Police jailed the cleric’s son Mohammed Mustafa Kamel for involvement in violence in Yemen. In 1999, Abu Hamza and several co-conspirators attempted to establish an al-Qaeda training camp in the United States, based in Bly, Oregon. In late November 1999, Abu Hamza dispatched several British-based al-Qaeda operatives to establish the camp. One of the operatives, Oussama Abdullah Kassir, brought with him a manual on the use of sarin nerve gas. (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Telegraph, BBC News, BBC News, U.S. Department of Justice)
Abu Hamza’s fiery speeches at Finsbury Park attracted such attendees as 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and failed shoe bomber Richard Reid. Three of the 7/7 bombers—Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, and Germaine Lindsay—also reportedly attended Abu Hamza’s sermons at Finsbury Park. The mosque became known as a “suicide factory” and “Al-Qaeda camp in the heart of London,” according to Al Arabiya journalist Ben Flanagan. In February 2002, British media reported that Islamists had trained on AK-47 assault rifles at the mosque. That April, the U.S. government designated Abu Hamza as a “terrorist facilitator with a global reach.” (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Telegraph, BBC News, Guardian, BBC News)
British police arrested Abu Hamza in May 2004 on 11 terror-related charges after the U.S. government requested his extradition. In 2006, he was convicted and imprisoned for seven years. The U.S. government extradited Abu Hamza in 2012. He was convicted in May 2014 of 11 terrorism-related charges. In January 2015, Abu Hamza received a life sentence in U.S. prison. (Sources: BBC News, BBC News, CBS News, U.S. Department of Justice)
In 2005, the Finsbury Park Mosque reopened under the management of the Muslim Association of Britain. In July 2015, global financial risk-analysis database World-Check labeled the mosque a terrorism risk, though the mosque’s leaders vowed to fight the label. Thompson Reuters, which owns World-Check, agreed to pay damages to the mosque in February 2017. On June 19, 2017, Darren Osborne drove a van into a crowd of worshippers outside the mosque, killing one and wounding 10 people. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2018. (Sources: Telegraph, Newsweek, Guardian, Al Arabiya, International Business Times, BBC News, Associated Press, Independent, Business Insider)
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), meaning “Party of Liberation,” is an international Islamist movement seeking to unite Muslims under one Islamic caliphate. HT considers itself a non-violent political party dedicated to peacefully converting Muslim nations to Islamist political systems. HT praises the concept of jihad but insists that it does not use “material power to defend itself or as a weapon….” (Sources: Center for Social Cohesion, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Hizb ut-Tahrir America)
HT’s British chapter (HT Britain) is considered the nerve center of the global movement. HT’s operations in the United Kingdom are led by HT Britain’s chief executive, Dr. Abdul Wahid. HT’s spokesperson, Taji Mustafa, engages the media on behalf of the movement, and has spoken at HT conferences in other countries like Australia. Because HT is allowed to operate freely in Britain, HT Britain recruits members by hosting public conferences and panels, and by engaging with the British media on a regular basis. HT Britain also maintains a website, where its positions on foreign and domestic policy are made available through articles and video. (Sources: Nixon Center, Hope Not Hate)
On both Twitter and Facebook, HT Britain has amassed more than 11,000 followers. Local HT Britain chapters organize their own fundraising to support outreach efforts, such as printing and handing out leaflets in public spaces. HT Britain has also benefited from government funding, including grants to run early education programs. The British government ended this funding program after media reports confirmed that HT members were using the funding to indoctrinate students with controversial HT ideology, including the belief that tolerance and integration are un-Islamic. (Sources: Facebook, Twitter, American Foreign Policy Council, Telegraph, Telegraph)
Individuals known to have been in contact with HT Britain have gone on to join more violent Islamist groups. For example, notorious ISIS executioner Mohammed Emwazi (a.k.a. Jihadi John) was in contact with the group while studying at British universities before he joined ISIS. In March 2019, Oxford University suspended student and HT member Danial Farooq after he attempted to recruit others while claiming “jihad has been made one of the most important duties” and he does not “see it as aggressive.” (Sources: Daily Mail, Daily Mail)
Former British prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron called for banning HT in 2009 and 2011, respectively. However, David Anderson, then the U.K. government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, submitted a report to Parliament in 2011 recommending against banning HT as it had not advocated violence. The British Home Office has also ruled that HT does not advocate violence and that Britain cannot ban the group for having unpopular ideas. The Home Office did concede, however, that HT is anti-Semitic, homophobic, and anti-Western. (Sources: Guardian, The Week, Guardian)
Abu Qatada
Born Omar Othman, Abu Qatada is a U.S.- and U.N.-designated Jordanian cleric of Palestinian descent accused of being an al-Qaeda propagandist who has spread radicalism and influenced jihadists such as the September 11 hijackers. The United Nations at one point considered Qatada to be Osama bin Laden’s “spiritual ambassador in Europe.” British security services have accused Qatada of granting religious legitimacy to people who want to “further the aims of extreme Islamism and to engage in terrorist attacks.” Qatada also stands accused of organizing military training trips to Afghanistan, funding the Iraq- and Syria-based terror group Ansar al-Islam, and encouraging Ansar al-Islam to strengthen its ties with al-Qaeda. A Spanish judge once described him as bin Laden’s “right-hand man in Europe.” (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.N. Security Council, Jadaliyya, BBC News, New York Times, New York Times)
Abu Qatada is also accused of being involved in the 2000 “millennium conspiracy” in which terrorists planned bombings at Western and Israeli targets during millennium celebrations in the United Kingdom. British authorities arrested Qatada Abu Qatada is also believed to have inspired several members of al-Qaeda, including Mohammad Atta, a “ringleader” behind the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. after Abu Qatada videos were found in Atta’s apartment in Hamburg, Germany. (Source: Telegraph, U.N. Security Council)
Abu Qatada sought asylum in Great Britain in 1993. In 1999, a Jordanian court convicted Qatada in absentia on terrorism charges and sentenced him to life in prison. British authorities arrested him several times and sought his deportation. Beginning in 2005, Qatada began an eight-year fight against deportation. The cleric argued Jordanian authorities had tortured him and would employ evidence collected through torture. (Sources: New York Times, European Court of Human Rights)
In 2005, Jordan and the United Kingdom signed an agreement guaranteeing Qatada a fair trial and Jordan’s compliance with human-rights laws in order to allow for Qatada’s deportation. After an eight-year battle in British courts to avoid deportation, Qatada returned to Jordan in 2013. In 2014, two Jordanian courts acquitted Abu Qatada of both the 1998 bombing and 2000 terror plot. (Sources: European Court of Human Rights, Jordan Times, Telegraph)
Kabir Ahmed
Kabir Ahmed was a British suicide bomber who blew himself up in a November 2014 attack on an Iraqi police station that killed seven police officers. Prior to his death, Ahmed—also known as Abu Sammyh Al Brittani—was the first person to be convicted of terror charges in the United Kingdom. After Ahmed handed out pamphlets depicting a mannequin—representing gay people—hanging from a tree, a court convicted him in February 2012 of “distributing threatening written material to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.” Ahmed said he was doing his “duty as a Muslim, to inform people of God's word and to give the message on what God says about homosexuality.” (Sources: Telegraph, BBC News, BBC News)
Ahmed told Newsweek that he had been radicalized in British prisons. He expressed his admiration for the late Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb, deceased al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, Osama Bin Laden, and Ayman Zawahiri. Ahmed claimed he “simply walked” across the Turkish border in 2013 and joined ISIS. Other reports say he first joined Jund al-Sham in Syria before joining ISIS. In early 2014, Ahmed told BBC News that he was on a “waiting list” to become a suicide bomber. During the Newsweek interview, Ahmed referred to the United Kingdom as “Dar Al Kuffar, the land of the Infidels,” and said he never wanted to return. (Sources: Newsweek, BBC News)
The Troubles
“The Troubles” were a three-decade period of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that began in the late 1960s. Catholic “republicans” wanted to expel British forces and unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. On the other side, Protestant pro-British “unionists” or “loyalists” sought to maintain Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom. Several militant groups were active during this time, but the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was the most well-known. Various iterations of the IRA have been responsible for nationalistic violence in the United Kingdom since the late 19th century. The original IRA, a.k.a. the “old IRA” or “Official IRA” (OIRA), fought in Ireland’s war of independence between 1919 and 1921. In 1969, the Provisional IRA paramilitary group—commonly referred to as just the IRA or PIRA—broke away from OIRA. (Sources: BBC News, NBC News, BBC News)
The IRA carried out multiple bombings during the Troubles targeting British civilians, politicians, and military in opposition to British rule over Northern Ireland. More than 1,800 people died in IRA attacks. On July 1, 1972, the IRA detonated 22 bombs in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing nine and wounding 130 in what is known as Bloody Friday. Two bombs in London public parks killed 11 British soldiers and wounded 50, mostly civilians, on July 20, 1982. On October 21, 1984, an IRA bombing of the Brighton hotel in a plot to kill Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher instead killed five people and wounded 34. A bomb at the Royal Marine barracks in Deal, Kent, killed 11 Royal Marines on September 22, 1989. (Sources: NBC News, BBC News, BBC News, BBC News, BBC News)
The loyalist Ulster Defense Association (UDA) was the largest paramilitary group during the Troubles. At one point the group included 30,000 people. It was responsible for killing about 100 people. Operating under the name the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), the group claimed deadly attacks such as a 1992 shooting at a Belfast bookstore that left five people dead. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was another loyalist paramilitary group. The UVF was responsible for killing 500 people in bombings and other attacks. The British army and Northern Ireland’s police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, also fought against the republican groups. (Sources: NBC News, BBC News)
The IRA and loyalist groups both employed systems to distribute propaganda to the public. The groups reportedly used code words with police and media in order to verify their identities when they would call in with statements, warnings, or claims of violence. According to media and police, the code words helped distinguish legitimate claims from false ones. The groups would also use pseudonyms that became closely associated with the groups. Loyalist groups like the UDA would sign their statements “Captain Black,” and the IRA would use the name “P O’Neill.” The IRA maintained a publicity bureau in Dublin, from which it released press statements signed by the fictitious O’Neill, who began signing IRA statements claiming and justifying violent attacks in 1970. Journalists and researchers have speculated that O’Neill was actually a committee of IRA military leaders. (Sources: BBC News, Irish Times, CAIN, Baltimore Sun)
In 1920, the United Kingdom established a local parliament in Northern Ireland, commonly referred to as Stormont. In March 1972, four days after an IRA car bomb killed six and wounded 100 others in Belfast, the British government suspended the Stormont government and imposed direct rule over the territory. In July 1972, the IRA began a bombing campaign that made 1972 the bloodiest year of the Troubles. On May 29, the OIRA declared a ceasefire. The British government and the IRA entered secret negotiations later that June, leading the IRA to declare a ceasefire on June 26. The talks soon after broke down. On July 21, the IRA planted almost 23 bombs in and around Belfast, 22 of which exploded, killing nine and wounding 130 in what became known as Bloody Friday. (Sources: CAIN, CAIN, CAIN, Guardian, BBC History)
On November 15, 1985, the British government and Ireland signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which gave Ireland a consultative role in the governance of Northern Ireland. The agreement marked the first time the British government acknowledged that it would allow a united Ireland if the people voted for one. Following the November 8, 1987, IRA bombing of a veterans’ memorial service in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, known as the Remembrance Day Bombing, Thatcher called the bombing the “last straw” violation of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Nonetheless, the agreement remained in effect. (Sources: BBC News, BBC News, CAIN, New York Times, New York Times, RTÉ, Encyclopedia Britannica, Irish News)
In March 1993, after double IRA bombings killed two children in England, some 20,000 people rallied for peace in Dublin. Observers at the time pointed to the rally as a demonstration of the IRA’s lack of support in Ireland. By 1998, the splinter group Real IRA (RIRA) had reportedly swayed republican loyalties in the republic away from the IRA and its political party, Sein Féin. (Sources: Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Irish Times)
Founded in 1905, Sinn Féin (“We Ourselves”) is a left-wing Irish political party active in both Northern Ireland and Ireland. Sinn Féin is dedicated to creating a united Irish republic that encompasses both Ireland and Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin acted as the political wing of the IRA during the Troubles. A February 2005 British government statement called Sinn Féin and the IRA “inextricably linked” and noted “obvious implications at leadership level.” (Sources: 10 Downing Street, BBC, Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin, New York Times)
Gerry Adams led Sinn Féin from 1983 until 2018. Adams has denied that he is a member of the IRA while refusing to “disassociate” himself from the group. He consistently refused to condemn the IRA’s violence during the Troubles, but he eventually helped broker the Good Friday Agreement. In 2011, Adams won a seat in Ireland’s parliament. Irish media reported in December 2017 the discovery of files possibly linking Adams to a failed May 1987 IRA plot to blow up a police station in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Mary Lou McDonald succeeded Adams in February 2018. According to Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy, Sinn Féin’s goal is more focused on Ireland than Northern Ireland so it can gain political power in order to promote unification. (Sources: NPR, The Journal, BBC News, Irish News)
On April 10, 1998, the British government, Republic of Ireland, and warring factions signed the Belfast Agreement, a.k.a. the Good Friday Agreement, which called for a Northern Ireland Assembly, the creation of a British-Irish Council and the British-Irish Governmental Conference. Also under the agreement, Ireland would drop its claims to Northern Ireland, and British authorities would release conflict-related prisoners. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Bloody Friday in July 2002, the IRA issued an official apology for all the deaths of non-combatants it caused during the conflict. Sporadic violence continues to occur, but the conflict has largely ended. IRA splinter groups such as the New IRA, the Real IRA, and Óglaigh na hÉireann (“Soldiers of Ireland”) have sought to disrupt the calm. In the years following the Good Friday Agreement, loyalist paramilitaries continued to target Catholic civilians and plant pipe bombs around Northern Ireland. In June 1999, for example, loyalist paramilitaries planted a series of pipe bombs around the territory, killing a Protestant woman married to a Catholic man. (Sources: NBC News, BBC News, Christian Science Monitor, Gov.UK, Reuters, Reuters, Washington Post, Irish Times, CAIN, CAIN)
In 2015, a British intelligence report found that the IRA was no longer actively recruiting in Ireland or Northern Ireland, but its leadership structure remained in place. According to the report, the IRA was distributing campaign materials on behalf of Sinn Féin. Other violent republican groups continue to operate in the United Kingdom. In July 2015, the IRA splinter group Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) held a military parade in Belfast despite the Good Friday Agreement. In its 2015 Annual Report on the United Kingdom’s counterterrorism strategy, released in July 2016, the U.K. Home Office reported 16 national security attacks in Northern Ireland in 2015. The British government continues to monitor the threat of North Ireland-related violence. As of April 2018, the government threat level remained moderate in Great Britain and severe in Northern Ireland. (Sources: The Journal, Belfast Telegraph, Herald, Gov.UK, Gov.UK)
Maintaining the Good Friday Agreement faces other challenges in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. The agreement created a power-sharing assembly to govern Northern Ireland. In March 2017, Sinn Féin withdrew from government power-sharing talks in the Northern Ireland Assembly, leaving Northern Ireland without a devolved executive for more than a year. Devolution is the process of government decentralization by which authority is distributed from the U.K. parliament to assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales, and parliament in Scotland. Observers believe the discord could potentially enflame republican tensions. (Sources: Reuters, BBC News, Independent, BBC News)
Further, Britain’s decision to exit the European Union (the so-called “Brexit”) has opened the possibility of a physical border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which remains in the EU. According to Ireland’s minister of state for culture, Joe McHugh, Brexit threatens to close and harden the now-open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which could encourage violence and rally republicans who want the pathways between Ireland and Northern Ireland to remain fluid. In March 2018, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also warned that hardening the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland could reignite violence, calling Brexit a threat to the Good Friday Agreement that could “drive a wedge” between Ireland and the United Kingdom. As of April 2018, negotiations were continuing on terms of the British withdrawal. According to Irish Ambassador to the U.K. Adrian O’Neill, the European Union and United Kingdom are in agreement that there will be no hard border on the Irish isle. (Sources: Washington Post, Guardian, Guardian, Belfast Telegraph)
In July 2018, six days of rioting erupted in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, culminating in rioters throwing 74 petrol bombs and two improvised explosive devices at police and passing vehicles on July 13. Pro-republican protesters reportedly objected to plans to hold a parade in Londonderry marking July Twelfth, the annual Protestant commemoration of the victory of the Protestant William of Orange over the Catholic King James II in 1690’s Battle of the Boyne. The Northern Ireland Police Service blamed the violence on the New IRA and other republican groups opposed to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Also on July 13, an explosive device were thrown at the Belfast homes of former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey, Sinn Féin’s former Northern Ireland chair. There are no injuries in either attack. The rioting was reportedly the worst in Londonderry in years. Sinn Féin, the Irish government, and the U.K. government condemn the violence. (Sources: NBC News, RTÉ, Deutsche Welle, BBC News, Twitter, Independent)
The New IRA is made up of Irish dissidents who do not accept the Good Friday Agreement. Authorities refer to the group as the New IRA to differentiate it from the main group active during the Troubles, but the group calls itself only the IRA. Police suspected the New IRA of responsibility for four parcel bombs sent to multiple addresses in London and Glasgow between March 5 and March 6, 2019. There were no casualties reported. A claim of responsibility sent to Belfast-based Irish News was signed just the IRA. The claim reportedly used a verified code word used by the extremists to verify authenticity to the media. Police suspected the New IRA of responsibility for the bombs and noted similarities to past parcel bombs sent by Irish dissidents. Nevertheless, authorities continued to investigate all possibilities. The New IRA also claimed responsibility for a January 2019 car bomb in Londonderry that resulted in no casualties. (Sources: BBC News, Reuters)
Far-Right Extremism
Between April 2017 and March 2018, the U.K. government noted an increase of 36 percent of the number of people referred to the government’s counter-extremism program for far-right activities. The United Kingdom has taken steps to counter far-right extremism. In December 2016, Home Secretary Amber Rudd banned the neo-Nazi group National Action, officially outlawing membership and support of the group. National Action, which has held demonstrations in British cities bearing banners saying “Hitler was right,” is now classified as a terrorist organization. The classification marks the first time that membership of a far-right group has been prohibited in the United Kingdom. Rudd declared, “National Action is a racist, antisemitic and homophobic organization which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology…It has absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone.” (Sources: Gov.UK, CNN, Guardian, Independent)
Despite the group’s proscription, National Action members have reportedly continued to meet under different group names to avoid conflicting with the ban. In July 2017, whistleblower Robbie Mullen informed authorities of plans to kill Labour Party parliamentarian Rosie Cooper. During the June 2018 trial of National Action leader Christopher Lythgoe and five other members, Mullen described preparation for a so-called “white jihad.” National Action member Jack Renshaw pled guilty to buying a knife to kill Cooper but denied membership in National Action. The following month, Lythgoe received an eight-year prison sentence for membership in a banned group. (Sources: Sky News, BBC News, BBC News)
In February 2020, the Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) became the second British far-right group to be banned. SKD is a British branch of the violent, white nationalist group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) in the United States. SKD was created in 2018. Members have described it as “atomwaffen with less guns.” In June 2019, SKD members Michal Szewczuk and Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski were imprisoned for encouraging an attack on “race traitor” Prince Harry for marrying a woman of mixed race. Both SKD and AWD are inspired by neo-Nazi James Mason and his book Siege, which calls for the creation of independent terror cells to bring about a violent race war. In July 2020, the United Kingdom also banned Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), an Estonia-based European offshoot of AWD created in approximately 2018. According to the United Kingdom’s Counter Terrorism Policing, FKD specifically targeted young people between the ages of 13 and 25 through online propaganda advocating accelerationism and white supremacy. Membership in FKD, SKD, or National Action carries a prison sentence of 10 years. (Sources: BBC News, BBC News, Guardian, ProPublica, Gov.UK, Counter Terrorism Policing)
In December 2016, Home Secretary Amber Rudd banned the neo-Nazi group National Action, officially outlawing membership and support of the group.
Britain First is a far-right, nationalist party formed by members of the British National Party in 2011. The group views itself as a “patriotic political movement” but has no representation in the British government. A video on Britain First’s website shows members at a so-called training camp in North Wales learning combat techniques. In a self-described “invasion” in May 2014, Britain First sent members to Whitechapel’s East London Mosque with army-issued Bibles and Christian pamphlets. The group has also formed so-called “Christian patrols” to hand out anti-Islam pamphlets to Muslims in London, Luton, and other cities. Britain First has promised to be the first “professional, patriotic, nationalist campaigning organization” and promised to “get our country back.” Fourteen churches and Christian groups representing every Christian denomination in the country issued a joint condemnation of Britain First as “extremist” and accused the group of “hi-jacking the name of Jesus Christ to justify hatred and spread fear.” In April 2016, members of Britain First carrying signs declaring “No more mosques” protested outside a mosque in Whitechapel, London. The demonstration ended in violent confrontation with counter-protesters, which Britain First described as “aggressive Muslims assembled who promptly attacked our activists, stealing expensive camera equipment, and inflicting violence on our activists.” (Sources: International Business Times, Daily Mail, Huffington Post UK)
On June 16, 2016, Member of Parliament Jo Cox was murdered by an assailant who reportedly shouted “Britain First” before the attack. Other witnesses have disputed the claim and Britain First has denied any connection to the attack. In November 2016, Member of Parliament Louise Haigh called for the British government to proscribe Britain First as a terrorist organization. (Sources: National Post, MSN)
The English Defence League (EDL) emerged in Luton in 2009 to take a stand against radical Islam in Britain, according to its leaders. The EDL believes that British society is under attack by Muslim extremists. British media has routinely referred to the EDL as a far-right group, which has “aggressive rallies” at Luton’s Central Mosque and violently clashed with anti-fascist protesters. In 2011, EDL members joined vigilante patrols in southeast London and clashed with police. Matthew Collins of the British NGO Hope Not Hate told British media in 2013 that the EDL had become increasingly fascist in its protests and went from being concerned about extremism, to them radicalising themselves.” A 2013 British media poll after the Lee Rigby murder found that 61 percent believed that the EDL made terror attacks more likely. In October 2013, the EDL’s founder, Tommy Robinson, quit the group citing concerns of far-right extremism. (Sources: International Business Times, Birmingham Mail, Channel 4 News, BBC News, Daily Mail, Daily Mail)
Anti-Semitism
In December 2018, then-Prime Minister Theresa May called on all British citizens to commit to fighting anti-Semitism in 2019. Between January and June 2018, the Community Security Trust (CST), the primary Jewish communal organization in the United Kingdom, recorded 727 anti-Semitic incidents, representing the second-highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in the country on record for the six-month period. Recorded incidents included physical attacks on victims as young as 11, vandalism of synagogues, and anti-Semitic abuse of Jewish members of parliament. CST leaders reported that the figures represented the continuation of a growing trend over the past two years. According to the CST, “this sustained high level of antisemitic incidents suggests a longer-term phenomenon in which people with antisemitic attitudes appear to be more confident to express their views, while incident victims and reporters may be more motivated to report the antisemitism they experience or encounter.” (Sources: Jewish News, Independent, Community Security Trust)
Overall, CST recorded 1,652 anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, representing a 16 percent increase over 2017. The 2018 number represented the highest number of recorded incidents on the U.K. Jewish community since CST began keeping records in 1984. The numbers also marked the third consecutive year with a record-high number of incidents. CST recorded 1,420 anti-Semitic incidents in 2017 and 1,375 incidents in 2016. Of the incidents reported in 2017, CST recorded 145 assaults, a 34 percent increase from the 108 recorded in 2016. Between April 2016 and October 2017, CST recorded at least 100 anti-Semitic acts per month. (Sources: Times of Israel, Community Security Trust, Community Security Trust, Community Security Trust)
Foreign Fighters
As of October 2016, approximately 850 British citizens have traveled to the Middle East to become foreign fighters in the Syrian conflict or with ISIS. British courts have convicted more than 70 people for attempting to leave the country. The United Kingdom faces a threat from returning foreign fighters. According to the BBC, approximately half of the country’s foreign fighters have returned. British Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation David Anderson warned in January 2016 that lax security and porous borders at British beaches, marinas, and small ports could provide easy access to the country for returning foreign fighters. (Sources: BBC News, Soufan Group, Daily Mail)
In a January 1, 2016, interview with the Times, British Security Minister Ben Wallace warned that returning British foreign fighters will pose a greater threat to the United Kingdom as ISIS loses territory in the Middle East. Wallace also said there is a threat of returning fighters using chemical weapons in the United Kingdom. ISIS has used such weapons in Iraq and Syria, and Wallace said British intelligence chiefs believe returning fighters aspire to use them in domestic attacks as ISIS wants to carry out “mass casualty attacks” in the United Kingdom. (Sources: Times, Guardian, Jerusalem Post)
With the collapse of ISIS’s caliphate, British foreign fighters have attempted to return to the United Kingdom. Approximately 400 British jihadists have reportedly returned to the United Kingdom from Syria and Iraq as of March 2019, though only approximately 40 returnees have been prosecuted. The U.K. government has also sought to void the citizenship of foreign fighters where applicable. British law permits the government to revoke citizenship if the target maintains citizenship in another country. In February 2019, the British Home Office revoked the citizenship of Shamima Begum, the British high school student who became a jihadi bride in 2015 with two other girls from her school. The U.K. government has also revoked the citizenship of British ISIS brides Reema and Zara Iqbal, two sisters who traveled to Syria in 2013. The sisters reportedly married into a terror cell linked to the murder of Western hostages. The government pointed to Begum’s mother’s dual Bangladeshi citizenship, while the Iqbal sisters reportedly have Pakistani citizenship as well. As of March 2019, at least a dozen British ISIS brides and more than 20 of their children were housed in Syrian refugee camps. (Sources: Express, Times, ITV, BBC News, Times)
On October 1, 2019, U.S. security forces demanded that the U.K. take back all jihadis and their families that are entitled to British passports. The move to repatriate their families has been backed by the U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Intelligence services and security chiefs back Raab, but insist that the U.K. keep an eye on former ISIS fighters once back in the U.K. However, Home Secretary Priti Patel opposes the idea and, instead, proposed a special system of tribunals and courts to handle the returning jihadis. This debate has transpired as Shamima Begum, an ISIS bride and a former British national, has pled to the U.K. to be allowed to return home. According to figures reported by the U.K. Home Office, there are at least 900 British citizens who have fled to join ISIS. (Source: Express)
At least 100 British citizens have also gone to the Middle East to fight against ISIS since the fall of 2014. Many fight alongside the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG), such as Ryan Lock of West Sussex. Lock died in a YPG battle in Raqqa, Syria, on December 21, 2016. He was the third British volunteer to die fighting with the YPG. A YPG statement said that Lock “joined actively in our offensive against the terror threat that Isis caused upon Rojava, Kurdistan.” The U.K. Foreign office has warned against all travel to Syria, but the government has not made a blanket restriction on volunteer fighters. According to a U.K. Home Office statement, each case is examined individually. The Home Office has also recommended that British citizens contribute to registered charities rather than become foreign volunteers. (Sources: Guardian, Guardian, Telegraph, International Business Times, BBC News)
Abu-Zakariya al-Britani
On February 19, 2017, British citizen Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, a.k.a. Ronald Fiddler and Jamal Udeen al-Harith, blew himself up in a car bomb at an Iraqi military base on behalf of ISIS. A convert to Islam, Fiddler traveled to Pakistan in October 2001, allegedly for a religious retreat. He claimed that the Taliban captured him at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as he was trying to make his way back to Europe and accused him of being a British spy. The Northern Alliance liberated him in early 2002, but turned him over to the U.S. military. Fiddler was incarcerated at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from 2002 to 2004. Fiddler returned to the United Kingdom in 2004 after the British government lobbied for his release. (Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, BBC News, Daily Mail)
Upon his return, Fiddler successfully sued the British government, alleging that British agents participated in torturing him at Guantanamo. Fiddler received a compensatory payment of £1 million. Alex Carlile, Britain’s former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the Associated Press that Fiddler was “a potentially dangerous terrorist,” but the British government settled to avoid releasing sensitive information during legal disclosure proceedings. British authorities reportedly lost track of Fiddler, and he reportedly crossed into Syria from Turkey in 2014 to join ISIS. (Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, BBC News, Daily Mail)
Jihadi John and The Beatles
Mohammed Emwazi, a.k.a. “Jihadi John,” was a Kuwaiti-born British man who joined ISIS in Syria in 2013 and became known as one of the group’s most brutal executioners. He belonged to a four-member ISIS unit known as “The Beatles,” which included British foreign fighters Alexanda Amon Kotey, Aine Davis, and El Shafee Elsheikh. The four were responsible for holding captive and beheading two dozen hostages, including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and American aid worker Peter Kassig. Emwazi was featured in multiple ISIS videos in which he beheaded captives including Foley, Sotloff, Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. In the videos, Emwazi threatened U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and other world leaders. (Sources: Telegraph, Telegraph, Reuters, CNN)
Hostages nicknamed the four members of the group “Ringo,” “George,” “Paul,” and “Jihadi John” because of their British accents. According to freed ISIS hostages, The Beatles were among the more brutal of ISIS’s guards. Didier Francois—a French journalist held prisoner by The Beatles for 10 months—told CNN that The Beatles would regularly stage fake executions after telling captives they were to be beheaded. Escaped captives also reported that The Beatles would also waterboard them and use other torture methods. (Sources: Washington Post, CNN)
Emwazi was targeted and killed in a November 2015 U.S. drone strike in Raqqa, Syria. Kotey and Elsheikh reportedly remain at large in Syria, while Davis was arrested in Turkey in November 2015. (Sources: CNN, U.S. Department of State, Daily Mail, Washington Post)
Junaid Hussain and Sally Jones
Junaid Hussain was a British computer hacker and member of ISIS, who allegedly developed ISIS’s cyber division and taught hackers how to break into bank accounts. Hussein reportedly radicalized and directly encouraged Elton Simpson to carry out a May 3, 2015, attack with Nadir Soofi on a Draw Muhammad contest in Garland, Texas. Almost immediately after the attack, Hussain praised Simpson and Soofi on Twitter and called for death to “those That Insult the Prophet.” In April 2016, the U.S. Justice Department revealed that Hussain had communicated with Usaamah Abdullah Rahim ahead of the 26-year-old’s June 2015 attack on police officers and FBI agents, during which he was killed. According to U.S. court documents, Hussain had encouraged Rahim to kill political activist and critic of Islam Pamela Gellar, who had organized the Garland contest. Instead, Rahim chose to attack the police. (Sources: Guardian, Daily Mirror, CNN, CNN, Washington Post)
Hussain died in a targeted U.S. drone strike in Syria in August 2015, in what U.S. officials called a serious blow to ISIS.
Hussain grew up in England and, at age 18, was part of a British hacker group called Team Poison. The group famously hacked former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s e-mail account and released personal information online. The group also attacked Scotland Yard, NATO, and the British National Party, and worked with the hacker group Anonymous to target banks. Hussain left the United Kingdom to join ISIS in Syria in July 2013. Later that year, he married Sally Jones, a British ISIS propagandist and recruiter designated by the United Nations. (Sources: Telegraph, Vice News)
Jones has used Twitter to issue terrorist threats against U.S. veterans and the United Kingdom, including calling upon Muslim women to launch terrorist attacks in London, Glasgow, and Wales during Ramadan. Jones converted to Islam in May 2013 and soon met Hussain. She moved to Syria later that year with her 10-year-old son and married Hussain. According to leaked ISIS documents, Jones began overseeing the training of all European female recruits in August 2015. (Sources: Independent, Vice News, Daily Mail, Telegraph)
In 2014, British banks accused Hussain of masterminding a cyber-campaign to steal money from the bank accounts of celebrities and the wealthy in order to fund ISIS. Hussain reportedly led ISIS’s CyberCaliphate hacker group, which hacked the U.S. Central Command’s social media accounts in January 2015. The following month, the CyberCaliphate hacked various U.S. and international media companies and threatened First Lady Michelle Obama and the Obama children over Twitter. (Sources: Daily Mirror, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Guardian, CNN)
Hussain died in a targeted U.S. drone strike in Syria in August 2015, in what U.S. officials called a serious blow to ISIS. (Source: BBC News)
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