The sick ambitions of a caliphate bent on carnage: Chilling map predicts where ISIS will strike the West with 'lone wolf attacks' - as FBI sets up 56 centers to monitor Fourth of July terror threat

  • Experts predict that ISIS will soon awaken sleeper cells in Western countries to carry out terrorist attacks 
  • The FBI is on high alert for the Fourth of July holiday and is reportedly setting up command centers at all 56 field offices across the nation to monitor any threats   
  • The FBI says there is currently no specific, credible threat against the U.S. but Americans should be vigilant  

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The FBI is setting up command centers at all of its 56 field offices across the country ahead of the July 4 weekend, to monitor any potential terrorist threats, law enforcement sources have revealed. 

Sources told Fox News that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. will be reporting any information about possible attacks to these command centers - where officials will decide how to respond.

The move comes amid growing fears that the terror group ISIS is working to awaken sleeper cells in Western nations, after sympathizers were linked to three back-to-back attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia last Friday.

While the FBI says there has been no specific credible threat so far, it seems to be more active in its warnings and actions ahead of Independence Day this year than previously.

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The FBI is setting up command centers at each of its 56 field offices across the country ahead of the July 4th weekend over fears of a possible ISIS-inspired terrorist attack. This graph shows all the field offices except for the ones in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico 

The FBI is setting up command centers at each of its 56 field offices across the country ahead of the July 4th weekend over fears of a possible ISIS-inspired terrorist attack. This graph shows all the field offices except for the ones in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico 

This global map shows where ISIS has seized land, where it is expanding its support and where it has committed terror attacks. Most worryingly, it also reveals the countries where ISIS terrorists hope to carry out imminent attacks, including America. ISIS also wants to cause deadly disruption to Muslim regions of the world before the holy month of Ramadan ends on July 18

This global map shows where ISIS has seized land, where it is expanding its support and where it has committed terror attacks. Most worryingly, it also reveals the countries where ISIS terrorists hope to carry out imminent attacks, including America. ISIS also wants to cause deadly disruption to Muslim regions of the world before the holy month of Ramadan ends on July 18

Another law enforcement source told Fox that the FBI has even been working to take known sympathizers for groups like ISIS off the streets of America before the symbolic holiday.

Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has warned citizens to 'remain vigilant' this weekend

Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has warned citizens to 'remain vigilant' this weekend

That could mean arresting these alleged sympathizers on U.S. soil on lesser charges and building a broader case while they are temporarily in custody over the holiday weekend.

The FBI is specifically concerned about targets like shopping malls - where there are large groups of people but relatively little security.

Rep Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security has already warned Americans to 'remain vigilant' to terror attacks.

He also said that ISIS was no longer a regionalized threat but a global one.

‘I am extremely concerned that Syrian and ISIS recruiters can use the internet at lightning speeds to recruit followers in the United States, with thousands of followers in the United States, and then activate them to do whatever they want to do,’ he said, during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

‘Whether it’s military installations, law enforcement or possibly a Fourth of July event parade.’

He added that America’s response had been slow in comparison to extremists’ rapid advancement of their internet presence.

Referring to the terror attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait last Friday, he said: ‘In light of the three attacks in three hours on three continents overseas, (it) shows us that ISIS is not just regionalized like the administration says, only in Iraq and Syria, but rather demonstrates a global threat - that they can conduct external operations and they’re very savvy doing that over the internet.'

A gunman opened fire on a beach packed with tourists in Tunisia, killing 38; a decapitated body was found after an attacker rammed his car into a gas container, triggering an explosion in France, and a suicide bomber attacker a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City, killed 27 and injuring 227. There is as yet no evidence that the attacks were coordinated. 

Meanwhile the FBI has issued a warning to local law enforcement officials across America about a heightened risk of terror attacks targeting Independence Day celebrations this weekend.

No specific threat has been made by the terror group but bulletins are frequently issued in advance of major U.S. holidays. 

The Institute for the Study of War, an influential think tank based in Washington DC, says that ISIS is soon likely to target other Western nations like the UK, France, Spain and Italy.

A chilling map, predicts just where ISIS is expected to seize new land, strike in the west and awake 'sleeper cells' all before the end of Ramadan. 

This week ISIS promised ‘paradise’ and ‘rewards in heaven’ for those who carry out attacks during the holy month for Muslims.

Isis fighters, such as the ones pictured here in Syria, appear to be carrying out their promise to step up attacks for the holy month of Ramadan

Isis fighters, such as the ones pictured here in Syria, appear to be carrying out their promise to step up attacks for the holy month of Ramadan

The aftermath of the suicide bomb that killed 27 innocent worshipers at a Shia mosque in Kuwait last week. The attack came after the Institute for the Study of War predicted that ISIS would target Shia holy sites in the Middle East

The aftermath of the suicide bomb that killed 27 innocent worshipers at a Shia mosque in Kuwait last week. The attack came after the Institute for the Study of War predicted that ISIS would target Shia holy sites in the Middle East

Terrorism experts say the threats should not be taken lightly.  

Federal investigators have disrupted a number of ISIS-inspired plots in recent weeks, including a planned assault earlier this month on police officers in Boston.

Authorities shot the alleged attacker, Usaamah Rahim, before he could attack officers with military-style knives.

An Islamic State suspect in New York was also arrested in a separate incident after he attacked an FBI agent with a kitchen knife during a search of his home.

Fareed Mumuni, 21, has now been charged with attempted murder and is accused of plotting to use pressure-cooker explosives and knives to kill police officers.

THE 'ISIS MASTERPLAN': EXPERTS PREDICT THE CALIPHATE'S NEXT STEPS 

Islamic State - known as ISIS - will mark the holy month of Ramadan and the first anniversary of its self-imposed caliphate by launching bloody attacks on the West and activating 'terror cells' in countries as far east as the Philippines, respected terrorism analysts predict.

The Sunni Muslim extremist group already controls large swathes of land across Iraq, Syria and Libya - where more than eight million people live under its brutal regime. And it has formed partnerships with other extremist groups across the Middle East and north Africa.

Now the terror group will capitalize on religious tension and wars to plunge as much of the world into chaos as it can by July 18 - when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends - according to the American-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

In the ISW report 'ISIS Military Operations During Ramadan', which was published on June 7, it correctly predicted the terrorists would execute a 'mass casualty attack' in Tunisia, which has become a 'breeding ground' for the extremists in recent years. 

ISW also said ISIS would target Shia mosques in the Middle East.

Last Friday three terror attacks targeted three continents within three hours.

An ISW counter-terrorism analyst, Harleen Ghambir, told MailOnline: 'These attacks came days after ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged its followers to launch attacks during Ramadan, as death this month is considered more valuable than in other months.

Ms Ghambir added: 'We have been watching ISIS increasingly gain support among followers in Tunisia over the past few months, and that attack confirms that ISIS intends to use that support to encourage attacks against tourists and Western targets.'

As many as 2,400 Tunisians have joined ISIS on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria since 2011. Four hundred of them have since returned to the country, where it is feared they may use their fighting knowledge to strike, its Interior Ministry has said.

ISW predicts that ISIS will also mastermind 'lone wolf attacks' on countries with smaller Muslim populations, such as the United States, the UK, Canada and Australia.

Its experts claim the countries ISIS has specifically announced as targets are the United States, England, France, Italy, Spain, the Caucuses region of southern Russia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Dozens of other nations, including Greece, Romania and Australia, are at risk of deadly 'surprise attacks', it adds.


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