BRITISH ISIS terrorists are planning a major attack on a "public gathering" in the UK, an Army officer has revealed.
General Abdul Wahab el-Saadi, the most senior counter-terrorism leader in Iraq, warned that the Islamist extremists are plotting to make the UK their next target.
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An Iraqi counter-terror officer has revealed that the UK is the next target for ISIS Credit: Alamy 3
General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi said that information found during a raid on a desert hideout suggested that the militant group were looking to attack a public event in this country Credit: AFP
General el-Saadi, 60, told The Mirror that his Golden Division special forces unit discovered the shocking plans during a raid of a desert hideout.
He said: "We discovered that the UK is the next target outside Iraq.
"I can tell you that from the information we found at the site of one of our recent raids the next intended terror attack will be in the United Kingdom."
He also confirmed that the terror cell operating in the UK is composed of British nationals.
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Our own intelligence agencies are reportedly working to scupper the attack.
The general also revealed that the attack would take place in public to maximise its impact, but was unable to narrow down the exact nature of the predicted crime, for example, a bombing or a shooting.
He said: "I do not have those details for you except that it will, if it happens, be in a public place of the type I have described to you.
"We have given all of the information to the British authorities so they know about it.
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"The four priority countries in Europe are the UK, France, Belgium and Germany."
Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh, was founded in 1999, before gaining global infamy in the mid-2010s when it took over large parts of Iraq and Syria, as well as carrying out multiple international terror attacks.
The group was behind the Paris Attacks in 2015 which killed 131 people and the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, which claimed the lives of 22 people during an Ariana Grande concert, many of them children.
Its stated aim is to establish a global caliphate and impose strict Islamic law across the world, based on a jihadist ideology similar to that of Al-Qaeda.
The general's revelation comes as Iraq announced that it had killed Isis leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi.
DNA analysis is ongoing and human remains recovered from a mountain complex struck by Iraqui warplanes are yet to be identified as al-Qurayshi, but General el-Saadi said that authorities "believe" that he had been killed.
Turkey had previously claimed to have taken out the militant leader in April, but those reports were never confirmed.
Isis leadership has undergone significant changes since the death of the first self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019.
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Al-Qurayshi is the first so-called caliph to be killed in combat since then.
RAF Typhoon jets recently carried out airstrikes on the Hamrin Mountains, but it is not known if they were involved in this mission.
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It comes after Iraqi special forces announced that they had killed Isis leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi Credit: AFP