West ‘faces more Paris-style attacks’

The West must be braced for more Paris-style terror attacks as Islamic State is squeezed in Iraq and Syria, a US military chief warned today.

Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for Baghdad-based Operation Inherent Resolve, also said the flow of foreign fighters from Europe to join IS appeared to be slowing.

“As we continue to squeeze this enemy, as this enemy continues to feel that it is back on its heels, our assessment is that one of the responses to that, in desperation if you will, they are going to want to show the world that they are still viable,” he said on a visit to London.

“One of the ways that they can do that is through a high visibility attack outside their so-called ‘caliphate’.”

Col Warren also warned British jihadis and others considering going to Iraq and Syria that they faced death.

“If you go to Iraq and Syria, you will be killed, either by your so-called partners who have executed each other with grotesque regularity, or you will be killed by ground forces either in Syria or Iraq who don’t want you there, or if you manage to survive either of those two things, you will be killed by Coalition air power,” he said.

Coalition forces are estimated to have killed about 20,000 IS fighters. IS is replenishing its forces by a similar number but is turning to the use of conscription, child soldiers and using its “elite” foreign fighters for more standard operations.

“We can keep on making more bombs,” added Col Warren, who says high-value targets are being killed at around one every two days.

The drone attack that eliminated Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John”, had led to a spate of executions within IS ranks as “fear and paranoia” gripped the organisation.

Col Warren also announced that the military mission in Ramadi, in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, had been changed from “clearing” IS fighters to now “securing” the city.