U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a January terror threat “snapshot” release that the overall terror threat environment worsened throughout 2016, even as law enforcement increased their efforts to combat it.
“This year terror struck all corners of the globe, and the jihadist rallying cry was heard during attacks even in our own communities,” McCaul said. “What’s clearer than ever is that Islamist terror has been franchised to thousands of followers, who are using everything from sophisticated explosives to their own cars to attack innocent people, as we’ve seen in Nice, Berlin, and this weekend in Israel. Alarmingly, there were more ISIS (Islamic State) plots against the West in 2016 than any year since the group was formed.”
Key takeaways from the report include evidence of a spike in terrorist plots in 2016, which totaled 74. The spike in terror-related incidents is higher than the totals of 2014 and 2015 combined. At least 27 Islamic State-linked suspects were arrested throughout 18 U.S. states.
McCaul’s report also indicated that while efforts to expel the Islamic State from their caliphate in Syria and Iraq continue, the group is proving to be more malleable and unpredictable than national security officials expected. Most recently, the militant group regained lost territory in the Syrian ancient city of Palmyra.
While the Islamic State was a main focus of the report, it stated other terrorist groups have spread their influence throughout the region and continue plotting against Western nations.