ISIS Video Teaches Lone Wolves How To Attack
(Screen shot)
ISIS’s official
media channel on Saturday released a video encouraging and instructing would-be
lone wolves on how to carry out terror attacks in the United States and Europe.
The 30-minute clip, entitled, “You Must Fight Them, O Muwahhid (Believer),”
was published by the group’s media arm in Raqqa, Syria, and was circulated on
social media channels and online forums associated with the terror group.
The video,
subtitled in English, features a French-speaking jihadi who goes by Abu
Sulayman al-Firansi. After boasting about previous terror attacks conducted by
ISIS in Europe, al-Firansi urges supporters around the world to carry out
attacks inside countries that take part in the international coalition against
the group “led by America, Britain, and France.”
The first part
of the video focuses on “blade weapons.” Al-Firansi encourages sympathizers in
the West to “open the door of jihad” and adds that “there is no need to use
firearms, like a rifle or a pistol,” since potential attackers could use knives
and other blades, which are much easier to obtain. After offering advice on
what type of knives to use, he then instructs viewers on how to stab victims
efficiently and how to carry out a beheading — before demonstrating his method
on an actual person (likely a random captive held by the group).
Afterward, an
Arabic-speaking masked ISIS member named Abu Nur al-Shami, offers a lesson on
“how to make simple explosive substances with common ingredients” that
followers “can make in their homes using simple tools.” Standing in a kitchen,
al-Shami hosts what is essentially a jihadist cooking show, one that teaches
viewers how to make bombs rather than biscuits. The lesson is disturbingly
detailed and easy to follow.
Charlie Winter,
a senior researcher at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization
and Political Violence (ICSR) who focuses on the Middle East, said that while
clips like this one are nothing new, ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, has
recently been churning out more hands-on videos. “Over the last few months
we have a noticeable uptick in the amount of propaganda that is being released
that actually gives detailed advice on how to carry out attacks in the Islamic
State’s name,” he told Vocativ on Saturday.
Winter added
that many ISIS sympathizers communicating on social media and messaging apps
such as Telegram have aired enthusiasm about the video and are urging others to
share it as much as possible. “I think this is one of the most dangerous videos
the Islamic State has ever produced,” he said. “Bomb-making manuals on the
internet are notoriously terrible. What this video does is show someone
actually going through the process, and showing what they’re looking out for
and what they’re trying to avoid.”
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