Mark Rowley, national head of counter-terrorism, says Isis has broadened its focus from police and military targets to something much bigger. Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters
The UK is facing the threat of “enormous and spectacular attacks” by Islamic State as the extremist group attempts to wage war on western lifestyles, the national head of counter-terrorism has warned.
The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, Mark Rowley, said that while in recent years Isis had urged would-be jihadis to attack the police and military, its mission had since widened.
He said: “In recent months we’ve seen … more plans to attack western lifestyle … [Isis has gone] from that narrow focus on police and military as symbols of the state to something much broader. And you see a terrorist group that has big ambitions for enormous and spectacular attacks, not just the types that we’ve seen foiled to date.
“You see a terrorist group that while on the one hand has been acting as a cult to use propaganda to radicalise people to act in their name … you also see them trying to build bigger attacks.”
Rowley said Isis was encouraging supporters who had received military training in Syria to enter northern Europe to stage attacks.