McCaul releases February terrorism snapshot

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) announced on Monday that the committee has released its “snapshot” terrorism assessment for the month of February.

“The Islamist terror threat remains alarmingly high as recent arrests and terror plots demonstrate,” McCaul said. “ISIS recruits wage war in our communities, while thousands of deadly fighters trained in Syria stream back into the West – some of them infiltrating massive refugee flows. ISIS continues its global expansion on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the still-dangerous al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula seizes greater territory in Yemen. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin and the revitalized Iran-Assad-Hezbollah terror axis are further destabilizing the Syrian crisis in the absence of U.S. leadership.”

The report touches on the sanctions in Iran being lifted and the regime’s ability to access $100 billion in cash, an issue that raises concerns due to Iran’s history with funding global terrorism.

In the global fight against terrorism, the report states that an increasing number of battle-hardened fighters from Europe are returning from jihadist training grounds. Additionally, the report notes that Islamist terrorists are exploiting global refugee flows to infiltrate and target the West.

The snapshot also reports that ISIS and al-Qaeda are expanding their sanctuaries from North Africa to South Asia and additional concerns have been raised about the Obama administration’s release of Guantanamo Bay detainees and their rates of recidivism.