International terrorism currently poses a very severe national security threat to the UK.
Although the UK has faced a variety of terrorist threats in the past, Al Qaida and related terrorist groups have shown an exceptional level of ambition and willingness to carry out indiscriminate terrorist attacks. They are targeting Western countries and Western interests abroad in conjunction with violent campaigns to overthrow governments in their own countries.
Photograph of the World Trade Center on fire after the 9/11 attacksThe World Trade Center on fire after the 9/11 attacks.
Al Qaida and the terrorist networks linked to it are loose-knit groups. They operate without a conventional structure and maintain connections across the world, bound by shared extremist views or experiences. Some are centrally guided by Al Qaida, but others are autonomous and take their lead from radical propaganda shared via the Internet and other channels.
The terrorists draw their inspiration from a global message articulated by figures such as Usama bin Laden. The message is uncompromising and asserts that the West represents a threat to Islam; that loyalty to religion and loyalty to democratic institutions and values are incompatible; and that violence is the only proper response. Mainstream Muslim scholars reject this position. (See also "Al Qaida's ideology".)
The worldwide campaign against terrorism has resulted in hundreds of terrorists, including many senior Al Qaida figures, being captured or killed. Major terrorist attacks have been thwarted in a number of countries including the UK. International military action in Afghanistan in late 2001 deprived Al Qaida of its principal base, where it systematically recruited and trained terrorists, and planned and prepared for operations worldwide.
However, Al Qaida and other international terrorist networks remain a very serious threat. Usama bin Laden himself and other senior Al Qaida leaders remain at large, as do many trained terrorists. They are still capable of staging major terrorist attacks, as the Madrid and London bombings in 2004 and 2005 showed. Recent trials and investigations have shown that numerous terrorist networks are continuing to plan and attempt to carry out indiscriminate attacks.
The threat from international terrorism is therefore likely to persist for a considerable time in the future.