Junead Khan, a British delivery driver who supported ISIS and plotted with at least one other potential terrorist to kill U.S. service members, has been found guilty of preparing terrorist attacks, MSN is reporting.
Khan, 25, and his uncle, Shazib Khan, 23, were also both found guilty of attempting to join ISIS in Syria.
BREAKING: Junead Khan GUILTY of Plotting to Attack US Military Personnel in UK https://t.co/K6GU6hpbTv pic.twitter.com/idozc27EFc
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 1, 2016
Junead Khan was a delivery driver whose job delivering pharmaceuticals took him past the United States Air Force base in East Anglia. According to a police statement, he intended to use his job as an opportunity to kill U.S. service members serving at the base.
“Specifically, he intended to stage a road accident to draw soldiers out of their car, before attacking them with knives and potentially detonating a home-made bomb.”
In a message to a suspected fellow jihadist in Syria, Khan wrote of his disappointment at having a chance to kill some U.S. troops but being unable to follow through.
“When I saw these U.S. soldiers on the road it just looked simple but I had nothing on me or would’ve got into an accident with them and made them get out the car.”
Khan had been on the British government’s radar since as early as 2014, according to BBC News. On at least four occasions, officers from Prevent — the British government’s program aimed at identifying and discouraging potential terrorists — visited Khan.
He consistently refused their help, at one point sending a message to his uncle saying he hoped a recent visit would be “the last he heard from them.”
According to Commander Dean Haydon, the head of Scotland Yard’s SO15 counter-terrorism unit, Khan instead delved deeper into radicalization.
“They offered to help him follow a positive life path. Junead Khan’s refusal spiralled into extremism and plotting acts of terrorism.”
By August 2014, Khan and his uncle were making plans to join ISIS, but that plan unraveled, and Khan instead focused his attention on home-grown terrorist attacks specifically in U.S. military installations in Britain.
Khan was convicted of planning attacks on US military personnel stationed in Britain https://t.co/KBt5XxQFDW
— True Black Power (@trueblackpower) April 2, 2016
In July 2015, Khan carried on an encrypted conversation with another jihadist. In messages sent to “Abu Hussain,” who is believed to have been British hacker Junaid Hussain — who was later killed in a drone strike — Khan and his correspondent discussed the best ways to carry out attacks on U.S. service personnel. Khan’s correspondent offered to help Khan make a bomb.
“Most soldiers live in bases which are protected. I suppose on the road is the best idea. Or if you want [brother] I can tell u how to make a bomb.”
He then received instructions on how to make a bomb, and was told to detonate it when police arrived at the scene of his planned “accident.”
Days later, Khan was arrested at his workplace.
Searches of Khan’s home, computers, cell phones, and addresses of his co-conspirators revealed a chilling glimpse into the mind of a would-be terrorist.
Police say Khan had recently searched on Amazon for a large knife, which he planned to use in a roadside attack. Police also found an al-Qaeda bomb-making guide on his computer, as well as graphic ISIS propaganda videos showing executions and beheadings.
According to Sue Hemming, head of the counter-terrorism division of the Crown Prosecution Service, catching Khan early — and other would-be jihadists like him — prevents possible devastating attacks with implications far beyond the U.K.
“Through early detection and prosecution of these individuals more serious crimes have been avoided which could have had devastating consequences in the UK or Syria.”
Junead Khan and his accomplices are scheduled to be sentenced on May 13.
[Image courtesy of Crown Prosecution Service via AP]
Junead Khan: British Jihadist Who Plotted To Kill U.S. Service Personnel Found Guilty is an article from: The Inquisitr News