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MI5 Warns Severe Terror Threat, State Attacks Rising 35%

By Drooid · Sep 12, 2026, 12:27 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

McCallum Warns Threat

Sir Ken McCallum warned Britain faces a dual threat from hostile states and terrorist groups.
He said the national terrorism threat level remains SEVERE, the second-highest category.
Investigations into state-threat activity rose 35% in a year.
MI5 and police disrupted 19 late-stage attack plots since early 2020.
He urged a “team of teams” linking government, industry and academia to counter vulnerabilities.

Summary

Trump Proclaims Patriot

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation designating September 11, 2026 as “Patriot Day 2026.”
The Independent ran an editorial on the attacks’ 25th anniversary.
The 9/11 attacks killed 2,997 people, with another source reporting 2,977 casualties.
McCallum called the anniversary a “call to arms,” urging cooperation across sectors.
Four hijacked planes executed the attacks: two hit World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon, and one crashed in Pennsylvania.

History

Historical Context

In August 1998, al-Qaeda detonated truck bombs at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing 224 people. The attacks prompted the U.S. State Department to allocate $10 billion for security upgrades and spurred the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. Similarly, Britain’s 2026 security briefings cite a 35% rise in state-threat investigations and a “team of teams” approach echoing post-1998 multinational counter-terror collaborations. The legacy of the 1998 bombings thus informs today’s joint MI5-FBI intelligence sharing and reinforces legislative pushes for expanded surveillance powers.

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McCallum Warns Threat

Sir Ken McCallum warned Britain faces a dual threat from hostile states and terrorist groups.
He said the national terrorism threat level remains SEVERE, the second-highest category.
Investigations into state-threat activity rose 35% in a year.
MI5 and police disrupted 19 late-stage attack plots since early 2020.
He urged a “team of teams” linking government, industry and academia to counter vulnerabilities.

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