ISIS Plots Attack to Kill Queen Elizabeth During VJ Day Events, Says British Intelligence MI5
Islamic State commanders in Syria are plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth during VJ Day celebrations in Central London on Saturday, according to the U.K.'s security services and MI5.
Intelligence gathered reveals that IS is planning to use a pressure cooker bomb to attack the Queen of England during public ceremonies to commemorate Britain's victory over Japan during World War II.
High profile locations including St. Martin in-the-Fields Church in London's Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey are said to be targets of the attack. So far, police have not reported any arrests.
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British security services discovered the plot after seeing communications between IS militants and their U.K. sympathizers who pledged allegiance to the terror group and are obeying orders to stay in England to carry out attacks there and in Europe.
Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson will be among the U.K. officials gathered alongside Prince Charles and other members of the royal family during the day's ceremonies. Over 1,000 veterans and military personnel are also expeced to participate in the VJ Day events.
Despite threats of an IS attack on her life, Queen Elizabeth reportedly plans to attend the scheduled events.
This is not the first time this year that an attack has been planned by home-grown British jihadists. Back in May, IS militants were being trained to carry out a chlorine gas attack on trains and sports games, according to a British official.
"I am convinced IS (Islamic State) fighters are all being given training in chemical weapons, and British ones, who are likely to be more educated, will all be targeted in the hope they may return home," said Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the retired head of chemical and biological weapons for the British Army, according to The Daily Mail.
"They will have a reasonable idea on how to use chlorine and other toxic chemicals as a terror weapon," added de Bretton-Gordon. "This could happen on a train or tube or even at a big football match. Acquiring weapons and ammunition is very difficult in the U.K., but you can get up to 90 tons of chlorine without any license."
Cameron discussed the spread of Islamic State propaganda in the U.K.'s Muslim communities back in June.
"We've always had angry young men and women buying into supposedly revolutionary causes. This one is evil, it is contradictory, it is futile — but it is particularly potent today. I think part of the reason it's so potent is that it has been given credence," Prime Minister Cameron said during a security conference in Slovakia.
"So if you're a troubled boy who is angry at the world or a girl looking for an identity, for something to believe in and there's something that is quietly condoned online, or perhaps in parts of your local community, then it's less of a leap to go from a British teenager to an ISIL fighter or an ISIL wife than it would be for someone who hasn't been exposed to these things," added Cameron.
