A pro-ISIS group has been issuing a wave of online posters in English and Arabic encouraging would-be jihadists to conduct simple attacks at home employing a variety of methods.
The latest poster from the media group calling itself Muharar al-Ansar shows the front of a white cargo truck similar to that used to kill 86 people in Nice, France, in 2016.
“Hit them with a truck,” the poster declared. “Kill them all.”
The call was issued as an official ISIS media outlet, the weekly al-Naba newsletter, reported on the hearings that began in Stockholm this week for Rahmat Akilov, the Uzbek accused of the April 2017 ramming attack using a stolen beer truck on a shopping district in which five people were killed.
Calling Akilov a “mujahid,” the ISIS article highlighted how the attacker said he wanted to be killed in the attack as a “martyr.”
ISIS noted how the attack was reportedly “a desire to avenge Sweden because of its participation in the crusade against the Islamic State, indicating that Sweden must withdraw from this campaign and stop sending its soldiers to fight in Muslim countries.”
Akilov, ISIS added, reportedly prepared for his attack more than three months with a purpose to “crush the infidels.”
A few days before the vehicle attack poster, Muharar al-Ansar encouraged jihadists to “break the cross,” a message that was also delivered in Russian.
Another poster showed the White House in flames while urging would-be terrorists to attack with fire. The group has also issued posters suggesting attack sites in China and Russia.
Mid-month, Muharar al-Ansar distributed a “kill them all” poster encouraging a mass shooting in the style of the Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre. With the shadow of the Mandalay Bay in the background, the poster called an AR-15 the “weapon of choice” with a target of “festivals and large gatherings.”
“Select a high place,” the message directed. “Therefore, you will have a greater angle of vision to direct the shots.”
ISIS has repeatedly claimed through official channels that Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was their jihadist, but law enforcement authorities say they have found Paddock left no indication of any extremist or religious leanings.
Authorities fear, though, that terror groups will take cues from notable deadly attacks regardless of that assailant’s motive, such as using a high sniper’s nest like Paddock did from his 32nd floor hotel room.
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