Lone Wolves: A Growing Terror Threat

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Federal authorities in the U.S. are becoming increasingly concerned over American citizens who are fighting with al-Qaida in places like Syria and returning radicalized to the homeland, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The threat comes from native-born as well as American converts to Islam who are discontented and predisposed to violence, Jane Harman of the Wilson Center told the House Homeland Security Committee at a recent hearing.

“Lone wolves are a big part of this problem,” she said. “We need to have an effective system that can spot bad guys and prevent and disrupt plots against us.”

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Harman is herself a former chairwoman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee.

FBI Director James Comey said the threat from radicalized Americans is “something we are intensely focused on.” The bureau is trying to figure out who, after travelling overseas, should be tracked and who has already been recruited by al-Qaida groups.

Comey told the hearing that tracking al-Qaida since it metastasized into splinter groups in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Africa is a challenge.

These splinter groups have played a key role in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, in Syria, and in Africa.