Britain is the next target for Islamic State (Isis) terrorism, senior European counter terrorism officials have warned in the wake of the deadly Paris attacks on 13 November that left 130 people dead.

More about the war on Isis

Intelligence obtained by European agencies indicates that an attack on an unknown location in the UK is the next goal for IS (Daesh). According to the information, high-ranking IS officials have directed British jihadis to return home to carry out attacks.

CNN reported that the possibility of a UK attack may have been extracted from Aine Lesley Davis, a British IS militant who was detained in Istanbul on the same Friday as the Paris attacks.

Davies was detained on the back of information collected by British and Turkish intelligence services as they surveilled a messenger linked to Mohammed Emwazi, better known as Jihadi John. Through their information gathering Turkish intelligence operatives were also able to deliver the crucial information that led to successful air strikes against Emwazi in November.

Officials have said concerns about a UK attack have also been raised following the recent common's vote to back air strikes in Syria. IS claimed that the Paris attacks were carried out as a reaction to France's active role in bombing campaigns over Iraq and Syria.

Isis or Daesh – What's in a name?

Should we cease referring to the terrorist group that controls swathes of Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt's Sinai as Islamic State, Isis or Isil and begin using Daesh?

The term Daesh has become official terminology in Russia and France, as far back as September 2014, and has a major advantage in that IS fighters and leaders hate it. The word is an Arabic acronym of "al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi Iraq wa ash-Sham" – meaning the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams – but Daesh when spoken sounds similar to the Arabic words translating to "the sowers of discord" (Dahes) or "one who crushes underfoot" (Daes).

Due to Arabic wordplay, Daesh could be considered an insult. IS threatened "to cut the tongue of anyone who publicly used the acronym Daesh, instead of referring to the group by its full name".

MI5, the UK's domestic intelligence agency, has said global terror groups present "a threat on a scale not previously encountered".

The threat level set by the agency currently stands at moderate, with officials saying seven separate plots to carry out terror attacks in Britain have been foiled in the last year.

Security officials have also said the trail for the eighth Paris bomber, Salah Abdeslam, has gone cold. It is suspected the Belgian militant lost his nerve in the middle of the attacks in Paris and may now be on the run from IS.

"He was freaking out, he was scared when he called his friends in Brussels to come and pick him up that night from Paris," the intelligence official was quoted as saying.

Information would seem to show that the network behind the Paris attacks is loose grouping based on childhood friendships rather than a purposefully constructed cell. The group had been part of gangs and spent time in prison together before being radicalised.

More about the Paris attacks:
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