Current threat level

The current threat level is assessed as SEVERE (as of 14th August 2006).

This means that an attack is highly likely and indicates a continuing high level of threat to the UK.

See Threat levels in the UK for more information on how our threat level system works.

The threat from international terrorism

International terrorism is one of the most serious national security threats that we face today. As the London terrorist attacks in July 2005 showed, an attack or multiple attacks may be mounted without warning.

The Government continues to maintain a state of heightened readiness in response to the threat. It remains the Government's policy to issue warnings or advice if this ever became necessary to protect public safety in the event of a specific and credible terrorist threat.

This page provides a brief summary of the current threat to the UK from international terrorism, as background to the security advice available on this website. It has been produced in consultation with the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC).

The source of the threat

The threat of international terrorism comes from a diverse range of sources, including Al Qaida and associated networks, and those who share Al Qaida's ideology but do not have direct contact with them. A threat could manifest itself from a lone individual or group, rather than a larger network. Such groups and individuals have a wide range of aspirations and causes, such as:

replacing governments that they regard as insufficiently pious;


reclaiming what they regard as occupied territories;


rejecting democratic institutions and values in favour of an extreme interpretation of Islam;


reducing the influence of Western countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.
In recent years, Iraq has become a dominant issue for a range of extremist groups and individuals in the UK and Europe.

International terrorism and the UK

The UK is a prominent target for international terrorist groups. There have been bomb and gun attacks on British citizens and interests in a number of countries over the last few years, as well as targets in the UK itself:

November 2003 - Al Qaida attacked the British Consulate and HSBC building in Istanbul, killing 27 people including three British citizens;


September 2004 - A British national residing in Saudi Arabia was killed in a Riyadh shopping centre by Al Qaida gunmen;


October 2004 - British engineer Kenneth Bigley was murdered in Iraq by the Al Qaida in Iraq group;


March 2005 - A British teacher was killed in a car bomb explosion in Doha, Qatar;


July 2005 - Four suicide bombers attacked the London transport system, killing themselves and 52 other passengers. A subsequent attempted attack failed, with no casualties being caused.
British and foreign nationals linked to or sympathetic with Al Qaida are known to be present within the UK. They are supporting the activities of terrorist groups in a range of ways. For example, they are:

providing resources for terrorist networks engaged in conflicts overseas;


fundraising for terrorist networks overseas and in the UK;


acquiring and disseminating false documents for use by terrorists in the UK and overseas; and


facilitating training in the UK and overseas in extremist ideology and terrorist techniques.
In some cases they have also been engaged in directly planning, or attempting to carry out, terrorist attack. Some of the terrorists have received military and specialist terrorist training in camps overseas. Relationships forged in these training camps have formed the basis of loose networks of terrorists who can operate outside structured Organisations.

Some British residents have travelled to Iraq to join the insurgency against the country's government and Multinational coalition forces. In the longer term, it is possible that they may later return to the UK and consider mounting attacks here.