ISIS May Attack U.S. This Year, Officials Warn

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U.S. intelligence officials are warning that ISIS may be planning more attacks in 2016, some possibly on U.S. soil.

 

Christian Today reports that, during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), said that ISIS "will probably conduct additional attacks in Europe and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. Homeland in 2016.”

 

"[ISIS] will likely increase the pace and lethality of its transnational attacks as infrastructure and capabilities mature. It will purposefully attempt to stoke sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunni, and between the West and Islam, to create the chaotic environment in which it thrives," Stewart added during the hearing.

 

Other intelligence officials agree with Stewart.

 

James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, said that Islamic extremists are active in 40 countries and that there are more terrorist bases “than any time in history.”

 

Clapper added that terrorists are taking advantage of the refugee crisis. He described the terrorists as “pretty skilled at phony passports so they can travel ostensibly as legitimate travelers.”

 

ISIS has reportedly taken control of Syrian passport facilities and has begun to issue their own passports.

 

Even in the U.S., the threat of Islamic extremism is imminent. The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community reported that “approximately five dozen” ISIS-associated individuals were arrested in the U.S. last year.