UK spy chief warns Taliban takeover could fuel terror plots

LONDON (AP) — The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency says the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has “heartened and emboldened” extremists and could lead to the return of major “al-Qaida-style” attack plots against the West. MI5 Director General Ken McCallum says the U.K. could face “more risk” because of the withdrawal of NATO troops and the overthrow of the internationally backed Afghan government. He said authorities “need to be vigilant” for “the potential regrowth of al-Qaida-style directed plots.” McCallum said on Friday that U.K. authorities had disrupted 31 attack plots in the past four years, by both Islamic and far-right extremists.