London: British spies are taking the fight to the enemy by penetrating the dreaded Islamic State and other terror groups to prevent attacks on the UK, the chief of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service MI6 has indicated.
Alex Younger used a first-of-its-kind speech within MI6 headquarters in London, on Thursday, to warn that a "highly organized" ISIS external cell was planning to unleash more violence on the West and that Britain's intelligence services had disrupted at least 12 terrorist plots in the UK since June 2013.
"We need to take the fight to the enemy, penetrating terrorist organizations upstream. By which I mean as close to the source as possible. In footballing terms, it is about always ensuring that you are playing in the opponent's half...They (agents) know that the result of being identified as an MI6 agent could be their death."
"But they do what they do because they believe in protecting their country and religion from the evil that Daesh (ISIS) and other terrorist organizations represent," he said.
"I will not seek to hide the challenges that come with work against an organization as murderously efficient as Daesh (ISIS), but MI6 and GCHQ intelligence has on numerous occasions given MI5 and the police the information they need to identify and stop threats in the UK and to our allies," he added.
The Head of the Secret Intelligence Service also described the scale of the terrorist threat to the UK as "unprecedented".
"As I speak, the highly organized external attack planning structures within Daesh...are plotting ways to project violence against the UK and our allies without ever having to leave Syria," he warned.
Younger, the 16th chief since MI6 was founded in 1909, is known as "C", rather than "M" as in the James Bond films based on Ian Fleming's famous fictional spy.
C is the only member of MI6 who can be publicly identified.
The 53-year-old former army officer who joined MI6 in 1991 took charge of his new post from Sir John Sawers in November 2014.
This week's unusual on-the-record speech was part of a wider attempt by the spy agency to step out from the shadows and explain what it does to the public to attract wide support and recruits.
