IS fanatics jailed for planning ‘deadliest’ UK terror assault towards Jewish group

Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, plotted what police believe would have been the UK’s deadliest ever terror attack in Greater Manchester, targeting schools and synagogues

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Two Islamic State fanatics who plotted a mass attack targeting the Jewish community in Greater Manchester have been handed life sentences.

Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, aimed to slaughter “as many Jewish people as they could” in a potentially catastrophic strike at the heart of one of Europe’s largest Jewish populations. Authorities believe the thwarted attack would have been the deadliest terror assault in UK history.

Saadaoui received a life sentence with a minimum 37-year prison term. In his verdict, Mr Justice Wall stated: “You have shown no remorse for your actions, nor any acceptance of guilt throughout your trial.”

Hussein was given a life sentence with a minimum of 26 years behind bars, and the judge also rebuked him for his “cowardice” in failing to appear at his own sentencing hearing.

The pair were inspired by the devastating Paris terror attacks in 2015 that claimed 130 lives and heeded Islamic State’s “call to arms” issued amidst the Gaza conflict, reports the Mirror.

Saadaoui took steps to obtain and transport semi-automatic rifles, conducted reconnaissance missions, and pinpointed potential targets – but unknowingly relied on an undercover agent for acquiring the firearms. This agent, known as Farouk, had infiltrated extremist social media groups and successfully convinced Saadaoui that he was a like-minded extremist.

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC stated: “These defendants were prepared to kill several hundred people.”

If the planned mass murder had materialized, the accused would have carried out one of the deadliest firearm assaults in the UK’s history, and undoubtedly the most severe on the Jewish community.

The potential consequences would have been profound and significant, with far-reaching repercussions.

This case fell between two other terrorist attacks targeting the Jewish community, one in Manchester and the other in Sydney, but this could have been a much more serious incident.

Saadaoui, a former Italian restaurant owner, was apprehended by police as he attempted to possess two assault rifles, a semi-automatic pistol, and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition at a Bolton hotel in May 2024. The confiscated weapons were similar to those used in the 2015 Paris attacks.

Saadaoui and Hussein were found guilty of preparing terrorist acts between December 2023 and May 2024 at Preston Crown Court in December, with jurors reaching a verdict within just two days after a nearly three-month trial.

A third defendant, Walid’s brother Bilel Saadaoui, 36, who worked in a discount shop, was convicted of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts.

The court trial revealed that the intended targets were schools and synagogues within Manchester’s Jewish community. Saadaoui stated that Jews were the primary targets, with the intention to carry out the attack the previous summer.

He even referred to the potential killing of Christians as ‘a bonus’.

However, Farouk deceived his fellow jihadists into believing that a large shipment of firearms, including assault rifles, handguns, and numerous rounds of ammunition, was being smuggled into the UK via a cross-Channel ferry.

Saadaoui, Hussein, and an undercover operative were tracked to Dover, Kent, in March of the previous year. Unbeknownst to them, the supposed arsenal consisted of deactivated firearms.

The police made their move on May 8 of the previous year, carrying out armed raids as Saadaoui arrived to collect the shipment. Simultaneously, Hussein was apprehended at his electrical business.

Following the guilty verdicts, Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Robert Potts stated: “What Walid Saadaoui was trying to achieve was a terrorist attack on the Jewish community that, given the weaponry and ammunition involved, could potentially have been the deadliest terrorist attack in UK history.”

This foiled plot occurred just over a year prior to the tragic Manchester synagogue attack in October 2025, during Yom Kippur, which resulted in the loss of two Jewish lives. Saadaoui revealed his ties to Islamic State during a conversation with “Farouk”, stating: “I am liaising with brothers who are insiders and are operatives, and God is my witness, they are not just brothers on Facebook, they worked with me three days and we got know each other well and they had to speak to three other people to verify me, they asked me questions about creed for three days and I spoke to them on the phone.”

He further detailed his plans, saying: “They explain to me the best method of conducting the operations. If we carry out the operation in winter I will be a failure, it is better to carry out the operation in the summer … in the winter everybody is at home.”

In another chilling statement, he suggested that if Muslims “all over the world” attacked “the Jewish people, honestly they wouldn’t do what they do in Gaza now”.

The court was informed that Saadaoui came under scrutiny following the Hamas attacks in Israel due to his vitriolic social media posts. He infiltrated a Jewish community page on Facebook to monitor potential targets online and determine when they might be congregating.

During his trial, Saadaoui alleged that a high-ranking IS operative ‘took advantage’ of his goodwill and coerced him into planning the attack. Hussein denied any involvement.

Following the guilty verdicts, The Campaign Against Antisemitism warned that the plot served as “a reminder that what happened on Bondi Beach on December 14 could just as easily have happened here in Britain”.

Frank Ferguson, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime and counter-terrorism division, stated: “The investigation and prosecution deployed a highly trained witness who made sure their plot did not succeed and secured valuable evidence directly from the mouths of the terrorists.”