MI6 and the CIA were handed intelligence outlining the planned takeover of northern Iraq by jihadists and their allies five months ago but the British and American governments failed to act on it, senior officials in Iraq have told The Telegraph.
The head of intelligence for the autonomous Kurdish regional government, which has links with the West, said he had repeatedly tried to send warnings both to the central government in Baghdad and to its allies, Britain and America.
But despite repeated attempts to impress on Washington and London the seriousness of the unfolding situation, he said there was no response from either government.
The claims were made as it emerged that as many as 500 British-born fighters have travelled to the Middle East in recent months to take up arms with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis).
… A former head of counter-terrorism at MI6 told Sky News that up to 300 Islamist fighters from Iraq and Syria may have returned to the UK and could be planning attacks. Richard Barrett said the hundreds returning were an “absolute nightmare” for security services. He added that they did not have the resources to be able to look at all of them.