The UK Foreign Office (inset) has warned British citizens abroad to be on alert for terrorist acts against UK interests and nationals abroad.

 

The London-based UK government body says it believes the heightened threat derives from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria, although it stops short of naming Islamic State (IS) terrorists, to whom it is clearly referring.

 

Neither is it divulging any clues related to the concerns raised by intelligence reports, which clearly refer to fears of potential retaliation for air strikes against the fundamentalist group, commonly known as ISIS..

 

In a statement released last Friday, the UK government said: “The government regularly reviews and updates its travel advice to make sure it provides the most up-to-date information and advice for British nationals. Given coalition action in Syria and Iraq and the threat to countries involved, we have decided today to update our travel advice to reflect this.

 

“The government is adding the following information and advice to all of its travel advice pages: There is considered to be a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria. You should be vigilant at this time.

 

“This change is being made to travel advice globally in response to the generalised threat. The government will continue to reflect any specific credible threats in travel advice in the usual way.”

 

DUAL CONCERNS

Hardly coincidentally, this announcement came only days after US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (inset, left) announced wide ranging enhanced security at all government buildings in the United States.

 

In a statement, he said: “Today I am announcing that I have directed the Federal Protective Service to enhance its presence and security at various US Government buildings in Washington DC and other major cities and locations around the country.

 

“The precise actions we are taking and the precise locations at which we will enhance security is law-enforcement sensitive [and] will vary and shift from location to location and will be continually re-evaluated.”

 

The Federal Protective Service is responsible for the protection of over 9,500 federal facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration, through which 1.4m visitors and occupants pass daily.

 

Johnson added: “We are taking this action as a precautionary step to safeguard US government personnel and facilities and the visitors to those facilities.

 

“The reasons for this action are self-evident: the continued public calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on the homeland and elsewhere, including against law enforcement and other government officials, and the acts of violence targeted at government personnel and installations in Canada and elsewhere recently.”