ISIS is plotting ‘mass casualty’ chemical attack on Britain, warns minister as he calls on citizens to help identify 'the enemy within'
Ben Wallace told that ISIS would use chemical weapons here if they could
They can produce mustard gas and are using regularly in the Middle East
He also warned of the 'threat from inside' and asked the public to be vigilant
Al-Qaeda is also back on the rise and is becoming an ever-increasing threat
The Minister of State for Security has issued a stark warning that ISIS is plotting a chemical attack on Britain.
Ben Wallace said exercises are being carried out to prepare for such an atrocity.
ISIS has the capabilities to produce their own mustard gas, having already used the tactics in the Middle East.
Troops fighting against the terror group have been left with appalling injuries – including agonising blisters on their skin and badly damaged lungs – in a frightening echo of warfare in the trenches on the Western Front.
Ingredients to make these bombs are fairly common and easy to obtain, as most of them have other, legal uses.
Mr Wallace told the Sunday Times: 'They have no moral objection to using chemical weapons against populations and, if they could, they would in this country.'
As well as having ISIS to deal with, the MP for Wyre and Preston North stated that Al-Qaeda is back on the rise and becoming an increasingly credible threat, and that the biggest threat to the UK is cyber attacks.
He also encouraged citizens to be vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to identify 'the enemy within', as he fears foreign agents and colleagues could be corrupted by criminal gangs.
'There are traitors, he said. 'The insider threat, as we would call it, is real and can be exploited and there are people trying to do that as we speak.
'If it's hard to get in the front door, then what you try and do is get someone on the inside.'
A report last month described a chemical attack as an 'aspiration' for Isis, but a more conventional attack using guns and explosives still remains the most likely threat.
Two Kurdish fighters were killed in October by an Isis drone fitted with explosives, fuelling fears of a similar attack in the West.
And earlier this year Morocco's head of counter terrorism, Abdelhak Khiame, claims his unit had smashed 25 ISIS plots in his country in the past year alone - including one in February involving mustard gas.
ISIS terrorists have tried to create chemical weapons abroad and are hoping to one day use them to attack Europe, he claimed.
The terror alert in Britain is still high, with around 200 names on an SAS list of jihadis who could return to Britain to carry out attacks.
Troops have been warned that this operation could be seen as the most important in the regiment's 75-year history and that their success is vital to keep people in the UK safe.
The warnings come after two attacks in Istanbul put police in cities across Europe on high alert.
A gunman opened fire on a mosque in the city just hours after another stormed a nightclub during New Year celebrations and killed 39 people.
It is unclear who carried out the shootings but recent terror attacks in Turkey have been carried out by groups such as ISIS and Kurdish militants.
The attacks have put police on high alert.
In London, where 2017 was welcomed in with a huge fireworks display around the London Eye, more offficers than ever before had lined the streets.
More than 3,000 officers patrolled the British capital with guns and sniffer dogs and for the first time ever, armed police were on the London Underground network.
A steel wall was also erected on London's Westminster Bridge to prevent a lorry attack
In Berlin, which is sitll mourning the truck terror attack that killed 12 people earlier this month, revellers around the Brandenburg Gate were guarded by hundreds of armed police.
Cologne: Police officers in the German city stand guard in front of Hauptbahnhof main railway station
Brussels: Revellers queue to get in the De Brouckere square for the fireworks performance as Belgium's police officers conduct searches
In addition concrete blocks and heavy armoured vehicles were put in place along thoroughfares.
And in Paris yesterday, French President Francois Hollande met with beefed up security forces who were guarding celebrations around the Eiffel Tower.
In Brussels, which also experienced a terror attack last year, and in Madrid, party-goers were searched by armed police, who kept a careful eye on the swelling crowds.
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