MI5 warns that Islamic State aspires to carry out “devastating” attacks in Europe

The director general of the British secret services MI5, Andrew Parker, warns that the Islamic State (IS) still wants to carry out “devastating” and “more complex” attacks in Europe after losing territory in the Middle East.The head of MI5 (internal) will report this situation during a conference of the directors of European security services to be held today in Berlin.In his speech, some of whose excerpts were previewed, Parker will highlight that the secret services will be able to confront threats because of “the strength and resilience of our democratic systems, the resilience of our societies and the values ​​we share with our European partners.”The director general of the counterintelligence services will make this speech after one person was killed and four other people were injured on Saturday in Paris in a knife attack carried out by a man who was later killed by police.Among other things, the director of MI5 will indicate that twelve terrorist attacks have been thwarted in the United Kingdom since the attack on the British Parliament in 2017.With this figure, the total number of attacks thwarted by security services since 2013 rises to 25.In addition, Parker will criticize Russia after the poisoning on March 4 in Salisbury, southern England, of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia with a nerve agent, for which British authorities blame the Kremlin.According to the director, with this attack, Moscow has carried out “flagrant violations of international rules.”Parker will describe the attempted assassination of the Skripals as a “deliberate” and “malicious” activity, with consequences – he will say – for Russia because it risks becoming more isolated.At the same time, he will emphasize the importance of European intelligence services maintaining “cooperation” to confront the terrorist threat.EFEPost navigation