LONDON - Thousands of European nationals have returned from fighting in Syria and Iraq, the head of the European law enforcement agency (Europol) said, adding that the threat of home-grown terrorism in Britain at its peak.
“We are talking about 3,000 to 5,000 EU nationals who are potentially a threat,” Rob Wainwright, the British head of Europol, told the Home Affairs Select Committee in Britain.
“Clearly, we're dealing with a large body of mainly young men who have the potential to come back and have the potential or the intent and capability to carry out attacks we have seen in Paris in the last week,” he explained.
The warning comes just a week after French Islamist gunmen killed 17 people over three days in Paris, prompting the French government to declare war on terror by deploying thousands of troops and police officers across the country to protect religious and government sites.
On Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that his Cabinet would try to give the authorities the power to access communication details of suspected terrorists who might pose a threat to British security.
He said that, through introducing a piece of legislation, the government should close “the safe spaces” used by suspects to communicate with each other.
The British premier said that such powers would be justified to counter “the growing threat to the UK.”
“That is the key principle. Do we allow terrorists the safe spaces to talk to each other? I say 'no we don't,’” he said.
In 2012, British Home Secretary Theresa May proposed the Draft Communications Data Bill that would have obliged companies to store for 12 months personal communications such as social media messages, Internet voice calls, emails and phone calls, but the bill was blocked by the Liberal Democrats.
Hundreds of British citizens of Muslim background are believed to be fighting with ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
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