Terrorists say they will attack public transport and financial centers
- Extremists warn of atrocities on London’s transport and the White House
- Said to be first direct threats of terror strikes in West to emerge from Syria
- Hundreds of Britons are among foreign fighters in jihadist rebel groups
- Al Qaeda is ‘setting up training camps in Syria to school foreign recruits’
- British jihadist faction in Syria, Rayat Al-Tawheed, issues series of threats
PUBLISHED: 18:04 EST, 5 February 2014 | UPDATED: 04:28 EST, 6 February 2014
A group of Britons waging jihad in Syria have threatened to carry out terror attacks in the UK.
The extremists warned of atrocities on London’s public transport, at financial centres and also at the White House in the US.
They are believed to be the first direct threats of terrorist strikes in the West to emerge from Syria, where hundreds of Britons are among thousands of foreign fighters who have joined jihadist rebel groups.
‘Sometimes you just got to get up and go’: In a series of threats issued online by the Rayat Al-Tawheed group, one image shows a man inside a vehicle with an assault rifle as a red London Routemaster bus passes by
‘You only die once why not make it martyrdom’: This image on the group’s website shows a laptop computer with the barrel of an assault rifle resting on the keyboard and ammunition lined up under the screen
They emerged as the head of US intelligence James Clapper told the US Congress that Al Qaeda has set up training camps in Syria and was schooling foreign recruits to return to their home countries to carry out terrorist attacks.
British counter-terrorism officials are taking the threats of terror attacks in the UK ‘very seriously’, sources said.
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In a series of threats issued online by the Rayat Al-Tawheed group, the British jihadist faction in Syria, one image shows a man inside a vehicle with an assault rifle as a red London Routemaster bus passes by.
A slogan on the image in English says: ‘Sometimes you just got to get up and go.’
Another appears to make a reference to MI6. It shows a laptop computer with the barrel of an assault rifle resting on the keyboard and ammunition lined up under the screen, which displays an image of a hand gun and the phrase: ‘You only die once why not make it martyrdom.’
‘Wait a while there will come to you mounts carrying lions in shining armour battalions followed by battalions’: This image shows a man with a rifle wearing an Arabic-style scarf standing in front of the White House
‘It wont be easy but it’ll be worth it’: Another poster-type production shows a gunman standing in a landscape comprised of destroyed office buildings
Another poster-type production shows a gunman standing in a landscape comprised of destroyed office buildings and the words: ‘It wont [sic] be easy but it’ll be worth it.’
‘You only die once why not make it martyrdom’ – Rayat Al-Tawheed
Yet another shows a man with a rifle wearing an Arabic-style scarf standing in front of the White House.
A caption reads: ‘Wait a while there will come to you mounts carrying lions in shining armour battalions followed by battalions.’
Last month it emerged brothers Akram and Mohamed Sebah, from Holloway, North London, were killed waging jihad in Syria.
The Rayat Al-Tawheed group is believed to be headed by two Islamists from London. 
Fears: Head of US intelligence James Clapper told the US Congress that Al Qaeda has set up training camps in Syria and was schooling foreign recruits to return to their home countries to carry out terrorist attacks
Last month it emerged brothers and Mohamed (left) and Akram Sebah (right), from Holloway, North London, were killed waging jihad in Syria
It operates a number of social networking accounts and two suspected leaders could be heard speaking with distinct London accents in a video issued online.
An image posted on one such account showed numerous wads of £10, £20 and £50 notes laid out on a table, with the suggestion they were donations from supporters in the UK.
A caption says: ‘And we still stacking for the Big Boyz!’
Other images show suspected British fighters holding automatic assault rifles and manning anti- aircraft cannons mounted on the back of pick-up trucks.
One Rayat Al-Tawheed account was operated by an individual called Umar Siddiq and another apparent member called himself Mujahid Sayyad.
War-torn country: Residents inspect damage after what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo yesterday
Dangerous: A Free Syrian Army fighter holds a teapot as he runs to avoid snipers in Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria
The latter’s profile picture showed him wearing desert-style camouflage fatigues and a black mask while posing with a rifle in front of a tank.
‘Wait a while there will come to you mounts carrying lions in shining armour battalions followed by battalions’ – Rayat Al-Tawheed
He claimed in his biographical information he was from London and was ‘a commando with the brothers’.
One of the group’s videos included an appeal for British well-wishers to send cash and warned that fighting in Syria was not for the faint-hearted.
Another video issued by the group included a recording of several British fighters talking about becoming suicide bombers in Syria.
Earlier this week it was reported that another Briton waging jihad in Syria, a prolific Twitter user known online as Abu Layth al-Khorasani [the Afghan], had been killed in the north of the country.
He appeared to have enjoyed leadership status among Britons fighting in Syria.