FBI Counter-Terrorism Team To Patrol British Terror Hotspots

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to send 13 counter-terrorism officers to the UK to help identify “terror hot-spots” within the UK. The first three will arrive on Tuesday with ten more expected within the week, according to the Express.

The move is a response to the growing threat from British jihadis, and come in the light of the execution of James Foley by a man suspected of being a UK national. The team will liaise with the Metropolitan Police’s secretive SO15 counter-terrorism command and MI5. They have already been monitoring terrorist activity since the 9/11 attacks. 

A US intelligence source said: “Certain areas in the UK have been identified as being terrorist hot-spots and we will be particularly keen to glean further intelligence and garner sources there.

“At airports we will help to monitor by cross-checking details with an international terrorist database which is updated daily.

“The team will be working closely with UK intelligence officers already based at airports but may be a little thin on manpower. Essentially we bring to the table advanced monitoring capabilities and terrorist-tracking and identification techniques which have been tried and tested.”

The move comes amid growing US concerns that Britain is not doing enough to stem the flow of jihadists travelling to join the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The source added: “There is a suspicion among the US intelligence community that Britain has been and still is a soft touch for jihadists. We are sending officers to assist the British authorities in collating information using the most up-to-date techniques.”

The arrival of the American team has led to suggestions that the UK Border Force is too small and badly equipped to deal with the problems created by the terror threat. News of the help from America comes shortly after the government was forced to compensate a US firm who had worked on the eborder system.

As reported on Breitbart London the system was supposed to monitor all everyone who passed the UK border, but in reality it was only 80 percent effective.

There are also fears the US team may conduct their own work without the consent of the British.