British secret service MI5 preventing monthly terror attacks, chief says

MI5 chief Andrew Parker says Islamic State extremists aspire to launch "devastating" and "more complex" attacks.

2 min read

14 May, 2018

MI5 chief Andrew Parker says IS aspires to commit "devastating" attacks [Getty]

The UK's intelligence agency MI5 has thwarted terror attacks in Britain at the rate of one every month since the Westminster attack in March 2017, its chief will say on Monday.

In a speech to European security chiefs in Berlin today, Director-General Andrew Parker will add the threat from Islamic State extremists to launch devastating attacks at home and in Europe, with potential to kill and maim hundreds, remains.

Parker's speech comes two days after one man was killed and four others injured in a stabbing spree in central Paris, claimed by the militant group.

Despite IS's ground defeat in Iraq and Syria, the MI5 boss maintains the need for vigilance. "Daesh still aspires to direct devastating and more complex attacks despite territorial losses," Parker will say, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

He will also condemn Russia for the attempted assassinations of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury earlier this year, which Parker said was a "deliberate and targeted malign activity".

Moscow denies being behind the March 4 nerve agent attack, which hospitalised a former double agent and his daughter.

Parker will thank European states for showing solidarity with Britain by expelling Russian diplomats from their countries.

As Britain prepares for Brexit, Parker will press the need for cooperation with European allies, saying he is "confident about our ability to tackle these threats, because of the strength and resilience of our democratic systems, the resilience of our societies and the values we share with our European partners".