Michael McCaul, House Homeland Security chairman, warns of ISIS threat to the World Cup

The World Cup kicks off next week and the Islamic State is continuing “a barrage of threats to attack the event”, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee warned Thursday.

“Russian authorities have reportedly foiled several plots throughout the year, most recently on May 11 when security services arrested 20 from western Siberia who had stockpiled weapons near Moscow,” said a report released by Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, referring to the radical Islamist group by an acronym.

The suspects from western Siberia were reportedly Islamic State members plotting to attack Moscow’s Victory Day memorial march — just before the World Cup’s first match — according to Mr. McCaul’s latest global threat assessment report, which was published by the committee.

While the so-called caliphate has collapsed in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State-affiliated terrorists remain a major threat to America, the West and the world, the report says.

It highlights a recent public warning by France’s leading counterterrorism prosecutor of the risk posed by 40 radicalized prisoners who are due to be released over the next 18 months.

“There are 20 scheduled for release in 2018, and another 20 in 2019,” the assessment says. “[French] Authorities remain concerned over prison radicalization, and have taken bold steps to reduce the issue.”

It also highlights the U.S. Treasury Department’s recent moves to level sanctions targeting Iran’s terror funding efforts.

“This includes designating five individuals associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF) who provided ballistic missile assistance to the Houthi rebels in Yemen,” the report notes, “enabling them to launch missiles into Saudi Arabia targeting cities and oil infrastructure.”

Concerns are also raised by U.S. Southern Command’s Network Engagement Team director, Rear Adm. Brian Hendrickson, over terrorists utilizing existing smuggling routes between the U.S. and Mexico border.

“The corrosive activities pose a threat to the stability of our partners and to our national security,” he is quoted as saying in the report. “The region is also home to networks that specialize in smuggling illegal immigrants from places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, all places where terrorist organizations like al-Shabab, ISIS, al-Qaeda and their affiliates operate… Some of these people have ties to terrorism and some have intentions to conduct attacks in the homeland.”