House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) recently released the June Terror Threat Snapshot, surveying growing threats that face America and its allies in the West.
“We face a challenging threat environment here at home as Islamist extremists abroad have dug into their core sanctuaries and expanded into new territory,” McCaul said. “ISIS sympathizers and fighters continue to wreak havoc, launching murderous attacks from Baghdad to Brussels to San Bernardino. ISIS remains entrenched in its core bases in Raqqa and Mosul while it exploits vacuums to expand its networks in places like North Africa. Al Qaeda and its affiliates also pose a continuing threat as they operate from safe havens, including in Syria and Yemen. Meanwhile, the world’s primary state sponsor of terror, Iran, has seized on American retreat to enhance its capabilities and advance its nefarious agenda. This moment demands true leadership and a vision for a global order that secures us and our allies.”
The snapshot reported that U.S. authorities investigated more than 800 ISIS-linked cases and highlighted evidence of waves of dangerous foreign fighters who are returning home from Syria and Iraq, evidence that a specific terrorist released from Guantanamo in 2012 has assumed an increasingly prominent role with al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, and evidence that the Iranian regime’s support of terror groups continues to grow.
To date, the committee has also found that authorities were aware of 64 different ISIS-linked plots to attack the United States and its allies in Europe.