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One of the IS thugs behind the Paris massacre is believed to have visited Britain to link up with jihadis, sparking fears the killers were linked to a UK terror cell.

And police are also investigating claims a member of the gang that murdered 130 innocent people in the French capital made a string of phone calls to Birmingham in the run up to the atrocity.

The shocking revelations come as Britain joined the US and France to pound IS targets in Syria after David Cameron got the go-ahead he needed from MPs to launch airstrikes.

And the UK was last night braced for a Paris-style attack which security chiefs warn is now “highly likely”.

A source said of the telephone calls to Birmingham: “They were made shortly before the Paris attacks. British police are urgently investigating whether anyone in the UK was involved in those atrocities and also whether there is a linked terror cell based here.”

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The jihadi who made trips to Britain is said to have visited addresses in London and Kent.

A number of terror suspects in Birmingham have been arrested for links to IS in Syria, including two people earlier this month.

Jihadi recruiter Junaid Hussain, who was born in the city, died in a US drone strike in August. His widow, convert Sally Jones, threatened to become a suicide bomber.

(Image: PA)

And a Birmingham man was among 16 arrested on the eve of the France killings on the request of the Italian authorities over an alleged ­international plot to kill diplomats.

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The Mirror has learned that specialist Met Police officers are in Paris assisting their French ­counterparts deal with the ­aftermath of the bloodiest attack in the country since the end of the Second World War.

Scotland Yard said: “Post the Paris attacks, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command have been working closely with colleagues in France.

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“A team of counter-terrorism officers, including family liaison officers, have been deployed.” As they carried out their duties abroad, police here continued to be in a state of high alert.

Officers this week staged a mock exercise in London to demonstrate how they plan to deal with to a Paris-style massacre.

A Scotland Yard ­spokeswoman said: “The current threat to the UK from international terrorism remains severe meaning an attack is highly likely. That’s the assessment which we have prepared for. People would have seen the large-scale training held in London for the type of scenario that tragically happened in Paris.”

French police said they were unable to comment on the links between the attacks and the UK. And there have been no reported arrests in Britain linked to the murders.

Since the attacks 232 people have been held across France.

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The nine IS thugs who went on the rampage on November 13 were mostly Belgian. Seven were killed but two, Salah Abdeslam, 26, and an ­accomplice, are one the run.

The gang swapped messages with ­prominent British jihadi Aine Davis and other members of a Turkish IS cell based in Istanbul before the murder spree. But Davis, a close pal of Jihadi John Mohammed Emwazi, was arrested during raids in the city days before the attacks.

The Muslim convert and former drug dealer, from West London, was inspired by al-Qaeda preacher Anwar Al Awlaki and cleric Abu Hamza. He was ­responsible for guarding foreign ­prisoners in Syria.

Last year, his wife Amal El Wahabi was jailed for 28 months for asking a pal to smuggle 20,000 euros to Syria in her underwear.

Another link between Britain and Paris is the role of a UK preacher, who cannot be named. He inspired the extremist outfit ­Sharia4Belgium. Founder Fouad Belkacem was active in the Brussels suburb where some of the Paris attackers lived.

He was jailed for 12 years this year. His trial heard the group held meetings in London in 2010.