The Westminster attack shows the power of IS recruiting network

On March 22^nd an Islamic terrorist Khalid Masood killed three bystanders after by driving a rented Hyundai through a crowd on Westminster Bridge and then ran onto Parliament grounds where he fatally stabbed a police officer. Within seconds a group of protection officers attached to the Ministry of Defense shot him down. The Islamic State claimed Masood as one of its members and took responsibility for the attack.

It is possible Masood has links to IS because he was a member of the Al-Muhajiroun, a Salafist group that is known to have helped Islamic State members. Due to the threats of being banned by the British government the group has been forced to use different names through the years, but its structure and recruiting capabilities remain the same.

Members of the Al-Muhajiroun have been tied to 23 out of 51 terrorist plots that have been broken up by the British police since 2000. In 2016 their leader Anjem Choudary sentenced to five and a half year sentence for encouraging British Muslims to join the Islamic State.

The conviction came too late because by that time that time Choudary was able to radicalize some 850 Britons to go and fight for IS, including his close associate Siddhartha Dhar who became the Islamic State executioner known as “Jihadi John”. Choudary’s activities resulted in his being designated as a terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department on March 30^th of this year.

Al-Muhajiroun members have also conducted attacks on British soil. For example, Michael Adebolajo is currently serving a life-sentence for killing British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013 and Mohammed Siddique Khan went to the group’s training camp in Pakistan before conducting the 7/7 London bombing. These are just some of the people that have been indoctrinated by Choudary and his network to wage jihad.

The attack on Westminster shows that even with Choudary in jail the threat of homegrown jihadists has not subsided. Since Al-Muhajiroun’s founding in 1983 the group, under salafist cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad, and Choudary, was able to penetrate into Britain’s Muslims communities and indoctrinate a substantial number of British Muslims. Bakri is currently serving a life sentence in a Lebanese prison, but Choudary was allowed to practice his preaching until his conviction in 2016.

An example is the Muslim community in Birmingham where Choudary was known to preach and pass out leaflets. As of 2015 Birmingham was the second most common place of residence for Islamic terrorists (after London) with around 14% of jihadists coming from the city. This includes Masood who lived there prior to conducting his attack.

Despite links between Al-Muhajiroun and the Islamic State the country’s security services seem to have downplayed these connections. This can be seen in the surveillance of Masood himself. After the London metro attacks in 2005 the MI5 opened a file on Masood because he attended meeting hosted by Choudary. However, the agency eventually stopped surveilling him because they did not think he was well connected in the organization and was therefore not a reliable threat.

As the events of March 22^nd show Masood was a danger to British security. He is an example of how Britain’s counterterrorism apparatus underestimates Al-Muhajiroun’s and IS recruitment abilities.

Al-Muhajiroun has recruited Muslims for IS in mosques and prisons. Masood attended a mosque where Al-Muhajiroun was active so it is possible the organization was able to recruit him there.

The attack does not seem to have changed the stance of the British law enforcement because out of the11 people arrested following the Westminster bridge attack, only one is still detained. The police refused to identify those suspects so it remains to be seen what connection they may have to Al-Muhajiroun or IS.