Terror: Australia ranked equal third on ISIS target list, US Homeland Security report says

AUSTRALIA is ranked equal third among Western nations as a target for Islamic State-inspired terror attacks, according to a US Homeland Security report.

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AUSTRALIA is ranked equal third among Western nations as a target for Islamic State-inspired terror attacks as the group “crowdsources” global terrorism, according to a US Homeland Security report.

Despite successful and large-scale attacks across ­Europe, the number of known terror plots targeting Australia and the UK was higher than all other Western countries apart from the US and France, according to the “high-level” assessment.

The US House Homeland Security Committee’s July ­report identified more than 100 IS-inspired attacks or plots against Western countries since 2014.

The congressional oversight body claimed most plots and/or attacks had been directed at the US or US interests abroad, followed by France. The UK and Australia were next on the target list of either plots foiled or attacks carried out.

An ISIS executioner reads out charges before he brutally executes a prisoner with a sword.

The report warned IS was now “crowdsourcing” terrorism, with a significant rise in successful attacks this year and a doubling of the number of casualties inflicted.

“ISIS has now been linked to 100-plus attack plots against Western countries, an unprecedented wave of terror,” the report said.

“Although law enforcement agencies have thwarted more plots overall than have been executed, this year has seen ISIS’s highest success rate to date.”

A previous report said: “Year-over-year growth rate in the number of ISIS plots has surpassed any previous period of al-Qaeda-linked terror targeting Western countries.”

The report warned IS was now “crowdsourcing” terrorism.

It echoed former prime minister Tony Abbott’s speech last year in which he warned against the collapse of European borders leading to a rise in terrorism attacks.

A senior intelligence source in Australia said agencies were increasingly concerned about the escalation of attacks in Europe and increasing use of sophisticated encryption, making it difficult to monitor communications.

The deteriorating global security environment was raised yesterday at a Canberra meeting between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former US defence secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta.

Former US secretary of defence Leon Panetta during a visit to Australia in 2012.

It is understood IS and border security dominated the 45-minute meeting, which also included discussion of US-Australian intelligence sharing arrangements.

The House Homeland Security committee report said: “In 2016, ISIS operatives managed to pull off 44 per cent of their attempted plots, compared to 31 per cent in 2015. The total number of casualties from the group’s anti-Western attacks more than doubled in just the first half of this year.”

ISIS has now been linked to 100-plus attack plots against Western countries, an unprecedented wave of terror.

US HOMELAND SECURITY REPORT:

* Australia is third on Islamic State’s hit list of countries — equal with the UK and behind the US and France.

* The terror group is “crowd sourcing” global terrorism and doubled the number of casualties in the first half of this year.

* IS has been linked to more than 100 attack plots on Western nations this year — “an unprecedented wave of terror”.

* Attackers linked to the barbarous group have killed or wounded 875 in 2016 — more than the 750 killed across 2014 and 2015.

* IS-linked attacks have claimed more than 1600 casualties since 2014.

Australia is ranked equal third among Western nations as a target for Islamic State-inspired terror attacks.