Two men have been found guilty in the United Kingdom of plotting a deadly Islamic State-inspired attack against the Jewish community, underscoring fears of a resurgence of extremist violence.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, had planned to carry out a mass shooting using automatic firearms, aiming to kill hundreds. Their convictions were handed down at Preston Crown Court, less than a week after a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, who has been found guilty at Preston Crown Court of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community in Britain, in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Bilel Saadaoui, 36, who has been found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism as two men, Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, have been found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community, in Britain, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
As reported in Reuters, Assistant Chief Constable Robert Potts, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing in northwest England, warned that had the plot succeeded, it would have been “one of, if not the, deadliest terrorist attacks in UK history.”
Attack Plot and Foiling
Prosecutors detailed how Saadaoui and Hussein embraced Islamic State ideology and were willing to sacrifice their lives to become “martyrs.” Saadaoui attempted to smuggle two assault rifles, a pistol, and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition into the UK through Dover, with plans to acquire even more weapons. Unbeknownst to him, an associate he was purchasing from was an undercover operative, preventing the plot from advancing.
Weapons seized from the home of Walid Saadaoui, 38, who has been found guilty at Preston Crown Court of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community, in Britain, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Weapons seized from the home of Walid Saadaoui, 38, who has been found guilty at Preston Crown Court of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community, in Britain, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
The firearms Saadaoui sought were similar to those used in the 2015 Bataclan attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people. He reportedly admired Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the coordinator of that attack, describing it as “the biggest operation after that of Osama [bin Laden].”
Growing IS Threat
British authorities emphasized that while Islamic State no longer controls territory in Iraq and Syria, its influence persists online, inspiring individuals to carry out attacks abroad. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper recently warned that signs of escalating terrorism threats were emerging.
Money seized from the home of Bilel Saadaoui, 36, who has been found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism as two men, Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, have been found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community, in Britain, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Money seized from the home of Bilel Saadaoui, 36, who has been found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism as two men, Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, have been found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community, in Britain, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Ken McCallum, head of MI5, said the agency had thwarted 19 late-stage attack plots since 2020 and intervened in hundreds of other terrorism threats. “Terrorism breeds in squalid corners of the internet where poisonous ideologies… meet volatile, often chaotic individual lives,” he noted.
Legal Consequences
Both Saadaoui and Hussein were convicted of preparing terrorist acts. Walid’s brother, Bilel Saadaoui, 36, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
