Garda: russia and isis-k target ireland
Security unit boss on monitoring of spies from states
IRELAND is being spied on by Russia and a small number of other states, the country’s intelligence chief revealed yesterday.
Garda Assistant Commissioner Michael Mcelgunn also disclosed that a suspected operative from the Islamic terror group ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan Province) recently tried to come to Ireland but was successfully stopped.
Commissioner Mcelgunn, who is in charge of the Garda unit responsible for State Security, said there are a number of Islamic terror groups including ISIS-K which are being monitored.
This organisation is linked to the attack on the concert hall in Moscow in March CONCERN Mr Mcelgunn which killed over 140 people and has called for attacks in Europe.
He added: “We know that they have a presence in 17 or 18 European states, including Ireland.
“That said, our assessment is that they are not focussed in any attack in this state. What they are interested in is supporting and assisting in financing these groups.
“In the last couple of years we were successful working with partners to prevent a significant player associated with ISIS-K from relocating to this jurisdiction.”
Commissioner Mcelgunn said of particular concern are states such as Russia which are actively involved in spying here.
He said that states also seek to support extremists’ groups here and create mistrust in the Government.
The Assistant Commissioner for Crime & Security Intelligence Service also said gardai are closely monitoring the people here they believe are spying.
In an interview for RTE’S This Week programme, he said: “What we are particularly concerned about is a handful of states who are involved in spying activities on sovereign soil with malign intent.”