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Terrorism most immediate threat to UK, says MI6 | Terrorism most immediate threat to UK, says MI6 |
(35 minutes later) | |
The scale of the terrorism threat to the UK is "unprecedented", the new head of MI6 has said. | The scale of the terrorism threat to the UK is "unprecedented", the new head of MI6 has said. |
Alex Younger said UK intelligence and security services had disrupted 12 terrorist plots since June 2013. | Alex Younger said UK intelligence and security services had disrupted 12 terrorist plots since June 2013. |
He said many of the threats came from ungoverned spaces in the Middle East - namely Iraq and Syria. | He said many of the threats came from ungoverned spaces in the Middle East - namely Iraq and Syria. |
Mr Younger also warned that "hybrid warfare", which included cyber-attacks and subverting democracy, was becoming an "increasingly dangerous phenomenon". | |
"The risks at stake are profound and represent a fundamental threat to our sovereignty," he said. "They should be a concern to all those who share democratic values." | "The risks at stake are profound and represent a fundamental threat to our sovereignty," he said. "They should be a concern to all those who share democratic values." |
In his first public speech since taking up the post of "C", he warned of the impact of Russia's alliance with President Bashar al-Assad in Syria in casting all opponents of President Assad as terrorists. | |
"I believe the Russian conduct in Syria - allied with that of Assad's discredited regime - will, if they do not change course, provide a tragic example of the perils of forfeiting legitimacy," he said. | |
"In defining as a terrorist anyone who opposes a brutal regime they alienate precisely that group that has to be onside if the extremists are to be defeated." | |
He added: "We cannot be safe from the threats that emanate from that land unless the civil war is brought to an end." | |
Hostile environments | |
The Islamic State group had exploited the situation in Syria to fortify its stronghold in the region and wage a war on the West, he told journalists at MI6 headquarters in London. | |
He added that IS, also known as Isil or Daesh, had a "highly organised external attack planning structure" which was plotting attacks against the UK and its allies "without ever having to leave Syria". | |
Describing the risks MI6 agents faced in the field, he said: "Encountering terrorism, some of our agents operate in the most dangerous and hostile environments on earth. | |
"They know that the result of being identified as an MI6 agent could be their death. But they do what they do because they believe in protecting their country - and religion - from the evil that Daesh and other terrorist organisations present." |