Britain’s Home secretary announced Tuesday the nation was raising its terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe” following recent terrorist activity in France and Austria.
According to Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency, the severe alert means a terrorist attack is highly likely. It is the fourth highest of the nation’s five threat levels.
Speaking to reporters in London, Home Secretary Priti Patel said MI5’s Joint Terror Analysis Center ((JTAC)) raised the level following a recent knife attack by a radicalized Chechen refugee in Nice, France and the shooting of four people in Vienna late Monday by an armed man identified as a convicted jihadist.
Patel says the alert means people should be on alert but not alarmed. She said the alert is a precautionary measure. Patel adds the public can expect to see the nation’s intelligence and police agencies putting visible protective preventative measures in place across the country.
On her Twitter account earlier, Patel encouraged the public to “continue to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police.”
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