The European Union's top intelligence official has warned that the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organisation has taken a "strategic decision" to send its fanatics to attack European targets to try and distract attention from its battlefield defeats in Syria and Iraq, The Evening Standard reports.
Similar warnings have been issued in the past, but the recent announcement made by Europol director Rob Wainwright appeared to be more ominous. He said ISIS militants are using fake Syrian passports to arrive unnoticed at European destinations and that a small but growing number of them are mingling and identifying themselves as refugees.
Wainwright revealed the existence of a criminal underworld that is mass-producing false documents both for people-smuggling and for terrorism purposes.
He said the production of fake passports and other documents have reached "industrial scale," allowing criminals to obtain EU passports and move freely over the continent.
His statements gained added validity after the Italian newspaper La Stampa revealed that fake passports intended for use by ISIS extremists were found by law enforcement staff at refugee camps in Greece.
The revelations are expected to heighten terrorism concerns in Britain following a recent warning by London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe that Britain being the target of a terrorist attack is now a matter of "when, not if."
Wainwright told The Standard that the continent should expect to face an "onerous security challenge" for years. He said as ISIS falls apart in Syria thousands of foreign extremists will inevitably return to their home countries in Europe and America, where they could continue their jihad.
"Over several years we'll have to deal with the re-integration of thousands of Europeans who'll come back having been exposed to a highly radicalised environment," he said.
Wainwright predicted that ISIS would try to launch more Paris-style "spectacular" attacks, disclosing that there are now more than 50 counter-terror investigations under way in Europe.
He said "hundreds" of law enforcement operations are ongoing to stop the movement of illegal firearms to Britain and other EU nations.
