London: A counterterrorism expert has warned that British cities could be a target of an Islamic State (ISIS) terror attack on Boxing Day, marked the day after Christmas, according to a leading specialist.
Will Geddes, head of global security firm International Corporate Protection, believes Boxing Day on Saturday would provide the ideal situation for the terrorists, the ‘Daily Express’ reported.
“I don’t think Christmas Day will be a target for ISIS, even though it’s a Christian holiday, because there won’t be big crowds which is what they want for maximum impact. But Boxing Day could be as lots of people will be out for the sales in cities across the UK, all gathered in big crowds,” he told the newspaper.
His comments come as Britain’s security service, MI5, has put the UK terror threat from international terrorism at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. Unlike other terrorist organisations which have come before, such as Al Qaeda, it is hard to predict what ISIS will or will not do, he said, but crowded places on a poignant day are a target.
The leading counterterrorism specialist praised the number of attacks the British security services have foiled but said the constant cuts by the UK government to policing and security staff levels will begin to affect how much Britons are protected.
He said: “We’re not going to see the end of this threat by the end of this decade. “A lot of the time you’re looking at the radicalised individual, not just groups, which is very difficult to deal with.
“If you look at the number of successful times attacks have been prevented it’s impressive – it amounts to one a day this year. We have to be grateful for how well our security services are doing but it won’t be their fault if their funding is slashed but the public will no doubt suffer then.”
PTI