UK Security Minister Warns of ISIS Chemical Weapons Attack in Britain

The National Security Minister of the United Kingdom warned that the Islamic State is hoping to carry out an attack in Britain using chemical weapons, The Independent reports.

Ben Wallace told the Sunday Times that "the ambition of IS or Daesh is definitely mass casualty attacks. They want to harm as many people as possible and terrorize as many people as possible.

"They have no moral objection to using chemical weapons against populations and if they could, they would in this country. The casualty figures which could be involved would be everybody’s worst fear.

"We have certainly seen reports of them using it in Syria and Iraq (and) we have certainly seen aspiration for it in Europe."

Wallace also warned against "the enemy within," or "traitors" planted in the government, military and leading businesses.

"There are traitors," he said. "We have to be on our guard for the enemy within. The insider threat, as we would call it, is real and it can be exploited and there are people trying to do that as we speak."

The country employed heightened security measures during the holiday season after a deadly truck crash in Berlin and the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey.

The Metropolitan Police told The Independent that they made "detailed plans for protecting public events over the Christmas and New Year period.

"These already recognize that the threat level is at 'severe,' meaning an attack is highly likely, and have considered a range of threats, including the use of large vehicles.

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