The Islamic State is operating clandestine terrorist cells in Britain, Germany and Italy, similar to the groups that carried out the attacks in Paris and Brussels, the top-ranking U.S. intelligence official said Monday.
When asked if the Islamic State was engaging in secret activities in those nations, the official, James Clapper Jr., director of national intelligence, said: "Yes, they do. That is a concern, obviously, of ours and our European allies." He then added, "We continue to see evidence of plotting on the part of ISIL in the countries you named." ISIL is another acronym for the Islamic State.
Clapper, speaking to reporters at a breakfast meeting organized by The Christian Science Monitor, became one of the most senior Western officials to publicly acknowledge the Islamic State's reach into Europe, which has set off growing fears among U.S. and European spy services and policymakers. The Islamic State has vowed to conduct attacks in those three European countries.
The United States has rushed to provide allies with intelligence from a variety of technical and human sources, as well as to offer long-term structural fixes to European countries' failure to share intelligence effectively and to tighten porous borders.
Two weeks ago, Clapper led a group of U.S. intelligence officials who met in Germany with their European counterparts in what he said was an effort "to promote more sharing between and among the nations in Europe."
"That, right now, is a major emphasis of ours," he added.
Many European nations still refuse to share basic intelligence, even within a government, leading to blind spots across the continent that make it easier for terrorist groups to strike. Brussels has more than a dozen police forces, and French intelligence, police and judicial officials do not routinely share terrorism information, U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials said.
A Section on 04/26/2016