The United States remains concerned about security threats posed by both domestic and foreign terror actors, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2022) The United States remains concerned about security threats posed by both domestic and foreign terror actors, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday.
"The greatest terrorism threat to our Homeland is posed by lone actors or small cells who typically radicalize online and look to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons," Wray said in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The assessment comes following an elementary school shooting in Texas that killed at least 21 people, as well as a supermarket shooting in New York by an alleged white supremacist that killed 10 people.
Active shooter incidents in the United States increased by more than 50% in 2021 compared to the previous year, the FBI said on Monday in a press release.
The US is also concerned about possible attacks by foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda (both banned in Russia) against domestic targets, according to Wray.
"The FBI remains concerned that FTOs, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, intend to carry out or inspire large-scale attacks in the United States," Wray said. "Despite its loss of physical territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS remains relentless in its campaign of violence against the United States and our partners - both here at home and overseas."
The Justice Department on Monday announced the arrest of a 52-year old Iraqi citizen with ties to the Islamic State over charges of plotting to murder former US President George W. Bush. The individual allegedly planned to smuggle four other Iraqi nations across the US-Mexico border to carry out the attack, according to the Justice Department.
