leaders of the ISIS are determined to strike targets in the United States this year, senior US intelligence officials have said, telling lawmakers that a small group of violent extremists will attempt to overcome the logistical challenges of mounting such an attack.
In testimony before congressional committees, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other officials described the ISIS as the "pre-eminent terrorist threat." The militant group can "direct and inspire attacks against a wide range of targets around the world," Clapper said on Tuesday.
Marine lt Gen Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the ISIS will probably conduct additional attacks in Europe and then attempt the same in the US. He said US intelligence agencies believe ISIS leaders will be "increasingly involved in directing attacks rather than just encouraging lone attackers."
Clapper also said al-Qaida, from which the ISIS spun off, remains an enemy and the US will continue to see cyber threats from China, Russia and N Korea, which also is ramping up its nuclear program.
N Korea has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor that could begin recovering material for nuclear weapons in weeks or months, Clapper said in delivering the annual assessment by intelligence agencies of the top dangers facing the country.
Clapper said that Pyongyang announced in 2013 its intention to refurbish and restart nuclear facilities, to include the uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon and its plutonium production reactor, which was shut down in 2007.