LONDON: British police on Monday urged the public to be alert to potential terrorist activity as they said the threat of extremist attacks would last for several years.

Launching Counter-Terrorism Awareness Week, police said that even if the violence in Iraq and Syria subsided, the risk of attacks in Britain would continue.

The week of events, which will include talks with university students, businesses, theatre group performances in schools and social media interaction.

It comes amid heightened concerns over the numbers of British jihadis joining forces with extremists in Iraq and Syria — and potentially returning home with terror ‘tradecraft’.

“The danger posed by violent extremists has evolved,” said Mark Rowley, Britain’s chief counter-terror police officer. “They are no longer a problem solely stemming from countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, far away in the minds of the public.

“Now, they are homegrown, in our communities.” He said several attack plots had been disrupted in 2014 and more than 270 arrests had been made this year following counter-terror investigations.

Interior minister Theresa May said on Monday that since the government came to power in 2010, a total of 138 people have been put behind bars for terror-related offences.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014