Terror threat

Britain raises defences against returning ISIL fighters

British officials are engaged in behind the scenes reviews designed to address the threat from hundreds of ISIL fighters trying to return to the country from front lines in Syria and Iraq.

Security sources believe the number of potential returnees remains more than double the 150 suspects known to have been stripped of citizenship for terror activity abroad in recent years. Work is under way in the main administrative buildings in Whitehall, London, to target ISIL veterans.

Sources said that lengthening official watch lists of British citizens and residents recruited to ISIL ranks had become a priority for the security services. Newspaper reports have revealed that 40 of the 150 people stripped of British nationality since 2011 — under so-called deprivation orders — were sanctioned in the past year.