❓WHAT HAPPENED: Two men were convicted of plotting an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting targeting the Jewish community in Manchester, England.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Walid Saadaoui, Amar Hussein, undercover operative Farouk, and Greater Manchester Police.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Manchester, between December 2023 and May 2024, with arrests on May 8, 2024. The pair were convicted in December 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Some of the things he said made it very clear that he regarded a less sophisticated attack… as not being good enough, as he saw it was his duty to kill as many Jewish people as he could.” – Assistant Chief Constable Robert Potts
🎯IMPACT: The plot was foiled, preventing what police described as a potentially catastrophic attack.
Two men in Britain have been convicted of preparing acts of terrorism after plotting an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting targeting Manchester’s Jewish community, a court heard. Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were found guilty after prosecutors said they were motivated by a “visceral dislike” of Jewish people and intended to cause mass casualties.
Saadaoui, a Tunisian national, sought to smuggle four AK-47 rifles, two handguns, and 900 rounds of ammunition into the United Kingdom. He believed he was working with a fellow extremist to arrange the importation, but the contact was in fact an undercover operative known as Farouk. Saadaoui paid a deposit for the weapons, unaware that counter-terrorism officers were monitoring his plans.
The plot was stopped on May 8, 2024, when Saadaoui was arrested in Bolton while attempting to collect what he believed were deactivated firearms. More than 200 counter-terrorism officers were involved in the operation to disrupt the plan, which police said could have resulted in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in British history.
Assistant Chief Constable Robert Potts said Saadaoui’s statements revealed the scale of his intent. “Some of the things he said made it very clear that he regarded a less sophisticated attack… as not being good enough, as he saw it was his duty to kill as many Jewish people as he could,” Potts said. He also commended the undercover officer, adding, “There was very real risk and danger for Farouk, who undoubtedly saved lives.”
The Jewish Community Security Trust said the case would heighten fears within the Jewish community. Its chief executive, Mark Gardner, said, “To hear now that somebody was trying to obtain weapons and had put together a meticulous attack plan to go and kill as many Jews as possible… will make people very, very fearful.”
The convictions come amid heightened concern following the attack on a Manchester synagogue earlier this year, when an Islamic State-inspired Syrian migrant carried out a violent attack during a religious observance. Investigations later found the attacker had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and was on bail for rape at the time of the attack. Subsequent inquiries also led to additional terrorism charges against an associate linked to that case.
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