British Security Officials Warn Terrorist Attack Level Approaching Critical Status

The Brits do not normally sound false alarms so this must really be the real deal. Here's some of the details of the concern in Britain from the article here at Newkarala:

British security officials have warned that the terrorist threat in Britain is approaching critical status.
The threat level is at the "severe end of severe" according to sources, who say the level of "chatter" among terrorist cells has increased in recent months, prompting the police and MI5 to boost their presence and operate at full stretch to counter the elevated threat, reports The Telegraph.

"We are not chasing shadows. These are potential threats to security and life. Police and the security network are operating at full capacity," he added.The assessment, which has five levels, has been considered severe since the arrest of the men allegedly plotting to attack transatlantic airliners in 2006 but moved up to "critical," meaning an attack is imminent, during last year's car bomb alert which led to the attack on Glasgow airport. It is now only just below that level. MI5 is watching around 200 networks across Britain and MI6 and GCHQ are constantly monitoring communications on the crucial Afghan-Pakistan border area. Although key commanders have been killed in air strikes, one of the particular concerns is the disappearance of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, an alleged al-Qaeda mastermind who escaped from Pakistani custody last December. Security officials are also worried about threats which may come from off the radar.

You can almost feel something's in the air right now. Coming off two big terrorist attacks, the Marriott Hotel bombing in Pakistan and the U.S. embassy bombing in Yemen, it's like every jihad group, including al Qaeda, can smell blood in the water. Couple this all with what has been seemingly months of quiet in the Middle East, especially Israel, and I think we are looking at something major coming up. I fear there is going to be some coordinated attacks worldwide - I'm talking attacks from the Pakistan region to Afghanistan to Egypt to Israel and reaching to Europe, namely Britain and perhaps even Germany.

It's hard to believe that al Qaeda holed up in Pakistan is going to coordinate all of this but I get the sense that there is some coordination happening from some central point. Either way, it's going to be a long month of October as we sit and hold our breath.

Terror threat in UK 'approaching critical' status

Although key commanders have been killed in air strikes, one of the particular concerns is the disappearance of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, an alleged al-Qaeda mastermind who escaped from Pakistani custody last December. Security officials are also worried about threats which may come from off the radar. They are particularly worried by lone operators who "self-radicalise" over the internet and stock-pile chemicals from domestic sources. There is also a fear that some in the Somali community in Britain could have "potential connections" with al-Qaeda terrorists. Last week's attack on the US embassy in the Yemen means security officials now consider the Arabian peninsular "particularly combustible." "We are doing a lot of research work into the detection of explosives at train stations and so on but this really demonstrates the importance of preventing radicalisation," the source said. Part of the strategy has involved tackling al-Qaeda propaganda over the Internet.The Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, a part of the Home Office which co-ordinates Britain's count-terrorism strategy, is working on a number of strategies for diverting vulnerable young men and de-radicalising those who have become involved with extremist organisations. "We have limited evidence about what works but we want to get moving forward," the source said. "We need some quick wins."