British bombers' plot for new 7/7 foiled: Muslim terrorist cell plotted to murder 2,000 people in Al-Qaeda-backed atrocity in supermarkets and town centres

Britain was yesterday warned of a new generation of terrorists inspired by  the internet.
In a worrying first, three men convicted of plotting an atrocity to eclipse 7/7 were not recruited by radical preachers, but influenced by extremist rantings online.
They made their own way to Pakistan where they were easily able to locate and join Al Qaeda training camps.
On their return they set about raising cash, recruiting suicide bombers and building a new and deadlier type of rucksack bomb.
Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali wanted to create a new landmark date of horror that would surpass the 2005 London bombings as ‘revenge for everything’.
They plotted to use bombs and guns, attach knives to cars and drive them into crowds – a tactic they called ‘the Ultimate Mowing Machine’ – and smear poison on car door handles.
The group were inspired to mass murder by the internet rantings of US-born Yemeni extremist Anwar Al-Awlaki.
And their sophisticated plot provoked fears at the highest levels of Government about a wave of self-starting ‘Nike’ terrorists, so called because of Al-Awlaki’s rallying cry of ‘just do it’ – the sportswear company’s catchphrase.

'Little Irfan': Birmingham born Irfan Khalid travelled to Pakistan for terror training

Security experts are alarmed at the ease with which two of the men, Naseer and Khalid, made contact with Al Qaeda command in Pakistan.
They fear other fanatics have been self-radicalised and could decide unprompted to launch suicide missions in Britain.
In previous cases, terror suspects have been recruited or radicalised by Al Qaeda operatives in Britain before being sent overseas for training.
Fortunately, the gang made several mistakes, and in a reference to the black comedy film about bungling suicide bombers, Ali told his estranged wife Salma Kabal: ‘Oh, you think this is a flipping Four Lions. We’re one man short.’
The gang, who lived on benefits, tricked members of the public into funding the operation by posing as street collectors for Muslim Aid during Ramadan.
They raised more than £12,000 but lost £9,000 in just five days after gambling on the stock exchange in an attempt to boost their coffers. And Naseer, 31, bought an instant cold pack in the mistaken belief it contained ammonium nitrate, which can cause explosions.
Yesterday the trio were convicted of terrorist offences at Woolwich Crown Court. It can now be revealed that:

'The joker': Ashik Ali joked that the terrorists were like the cell depicted in the comedy film 'Four Lions'

• The security services feared the men could target military bases, supermarkets, cinemas and train stations with a wave of up to eight suicide bombers armed with automatic rifles.

• The terrorists were also inspired by 7/7 ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan and said they would learn from his ‘mistakes’ and kill far more people.

• The men were trained by the same Al Qaeda bomb-maker as Khan and recorded suicide videos after visiting a notorious extremist madrasa in Pakistan.

• One of the bombers was a respected teacher at a controversial Birmingham Islamic school known as ‘the Muslim Eton’.

• Questions were raised about the success of Government programmes to tackle extremism after no-one tipped off police about the gang’s activities, despite widespread suspicions.

The plot was smashed in the biggest security operation since the 2006 attempt to smuggle liquid bombs on planes destined for the US.
Counter terrorism police and MI5 arrested 11 men and one woman across Birmingham in September 2011.
They were all brought up in first generation Pakistani and Bangladeshi families.
Police and MI5 carried out a huge bugging operation which recorded the gang’s damning comments.

Plot: Irfan Khalid and Irfan Naseer arrive at Birmingham airport before heading to Pakistan for terrorist training

Training camps: Khalid and Naseer (pictured with the trolley) were caught on CCTV going back and forth to Pakistan from Birmingham Airport to receive instruction on plotting their attack on Britain

Collecting for terror: Irfan Naseer left and Irfan Khalid holding bucket undertake bogus charity collections in Birmingham to secretly raise funds for their bombing campaign

Watched: The group were under surveillance 24 hours a day by MI5 and the police, pictured here returning from a trip to a camp in Pakistan

Charity funded terror: The men posed as fundraisers for a Muslim charity (left) then used the cash to pay for bomb devices such as this alarm clock (right)

The hidden devices revealed how the men worshipped the 7/7 bombers and the internet writings of Osama Bin Laden, boasting their attack would be ‘another 9/11.’
They were also inspired by Al-Awlaki, a key figure of Al Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula, who was killed in a drone strike 12 days after their arrest. Officials named Al-Awlaki the architect of ‘just do it’ terrorism after he wrote an article in Inspire, an English language online magazine he co-founded in 2010.
The fanatic said: ‘Assassinations, bombings, and acts of arson are all legitimate forms of revenge against a system that relishes the sacrilege of Islam in the name of freedom.’

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