Islamic State supporters guilty of planning 'most deadly' gun attack on Jewish targets in Manchester

Islamic State supporters guilty of planning 'most deadly' gun attack on Jewish targets in Manchester Greater Manchester Police said the consequences of carrying out such an attack on the Jewish community would have been "catastrophic". Image:Fron left, Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein Image:Saadaoui made a payment for four Kalashnikovs also known as AK-47 assault rifles Image:A hangun brought by Saadaoui and Hussein Image:1,200 rounds of ammunition were also purchased Image:Saadaoui was caught taking delivery of weapons hidden in a car boot Image:Saadaoui and Hussein at the White Cliffs National Trust nature reserve near Dover Image:Saadaoui pictured by surveillance Image:The Albatross restaurant in Great Yarmouth, which Saadaoui purchased Image:Bilel Saadaoui Image:Saadaoui pictured by surveillance with Hussein Image:Saadaoui in a car with 'Farouk' an undercover police officer Tuesday 23 December 2025 14:02, UK Two Islamic State extremists have been found guilty of plotting a deadly gun attack on Manchester's Jewish community. Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were found guilty by a jury at Preston Crown Court on Tuesday. They had bought assault rifles, handguns and ammunition for the suicide attack they planned on Jewish targets. They saw any Christian victims "as a bonus". Saadaoui's brother, Bilel Saddaoui, 36, of Fairclough Street, Hindley, Wigan, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about the pair's terror plans. Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said the plan would have resulted in "the deadliest terrorist attack in UK history". The consequences of carrying out an attack in a crowded area on the Manchester Jewish community would have been "catastrophic", he said. Saadaoui, the former owner of an Italian restaurant in a Norfolk seaside town, "hero-worshipped" Abdelhamid Abaaoud , the mastermind of the Paris attacks of 2015, and wanted to replicate the attacks in which 130 people were killed, the prosecution told Preston Crown Court. He sold up, moved north and used part of the proceeds from his house sale to pay €5,000 (£4,400) as an initial payment for four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 1,200 rounds of ammunition as he planned a marauding gun attack in revenge for Israeli attacks on Gaza. His target was the same area of Manchester where terrorist Jihad al Shamie later stabbed a worshipper to death outside a synagogue on 2 October. Saadaoui conducted a surveillance trip around the area with an undercover officer called "Farouk" and told him he wanted to target schools and gatherings, adding: "Young, old, women, elderly, the whole lot, killing them all." He was caught "red-handed" by police following an undercover sting operation as he took delivery of the first shipment of weapons, supplied and deactivated by police, from the boot of a rented Lexus. Police bodyworn footage showed him running 20 yards across the car park of the Last Drop, a Lancashire spa hotel, before he was grabbed by armed officers and brought to the ground on 8 May last year. MI5 believe that Saadaoui had previously been in contact with an extremist called Hamid al Masalkhi from Cardiff,...

Preview: ~500 words