Medieval Cardiff Castle may have been built by the Normans and last invaded in the 1640s but Britain’s security services have had to reinforce it for the NATO summit amidst concerns Islamic fundamentalists may attempt an attack. The castle is the centre of the Welsh capital city, a city that has been rocked by an alleged ISIS recruitment drive.
NATO comes to Wales on 4th and 5th September, with 60 world leaders expected, including President Obama and Chancellor Merkel. Despite having walls several feet thick, the historic castle has still been surrounded by a ring of steel to protect the delegates from terrorists.
As previously reported on Breitbart London concerns about radicalisation in Cardiff have led to it being branded a “hot bed” of fundamentalism. The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) has been accused of hosting a number of radical events, including one with the controversial preacher Mohammed Al-Arifi.
Local men Reyaad Khan and Nasser Muthana, who went to fight in Syria, later appeared in an ISIS propaganda video. Both men are from Cardiff and are believed to have been radicalised whilst attending Al Manar mosque in the city.
News that two men from Cardiff are so integral to ISIS has raised the possibility that there may be more jihadis from the town, potentially unknown to the security services.
Officially, there are 500 British nationals fighting for ISIS, although experts have predicted the true figure might be nearer 1,500, raising the possibility that some may have slipped back from Syria and Iraq unnoticed.
Former Foreign Officer Minister Dr Kim Howells has claimed ISIS would want to attack the summit. He told the Daily Mail: “It will be a target, there is no question about it, that is why the security measures taken are so intense. With a Nato summit there is going to be a raised expectation or raised awareness that there might be an attack – that is why all the special measures have been taken.
“They might try and coordinate something with the Nato summit targeting somewhere there are a lot of infidels, as they see them. Like their predecessors Al Qaeda they like mounting spectaculars so I would imagine the work of the security services is pretty intense now.”
Whilst exact details of the security operation have been kept secret there are expected to be hundreds of uniformed Police officers on the streets of Cardiff during the summit.
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