Islamic State terrorists vows revenge attacks in Europe over killing of former leader

The Daesh terrorist group has vowed “revenge” over the killing of its former leader, urging supporters to take advantage of the conflict in Ukraine to stage attacks in Europe.

“We announce, relying on God, a blessed campaign to take revenge” over the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi and the group’s former spokesman, said an audio message attributed to the group and circulated on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.

The group’s new Spokesman, Abu-Omar al-Muhajir, called on supporters to scale up attacks in Europe, taking advantage of the “available opportunity” of “the crusaders fighting each other,” in an apparent reference to the raging conflict in Ukraine.

The former Daesh leader was reportedly killed in early February during an illegal helicopter raid by invading US Special Forces in the northwest Syrian town of Atmeh near the Turkish border.

The US raid in the northern Idlib Province controlled by Turkey-backed Takfiri terrorists also killed 13 civilians, including women and six children, according to the UN and rights groups.

The American military first claimed – without any evidence — that the Daesh leader killed himself and his family by detonating an explosive after the attack but later retracted the account amid growing criticism, citing local witnesses.

The terrorist group confirmed Qurashi’s death on March 10 and introduced Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as the new leader. Little is known about him, the group’s third chief since its inception.

The group’s new terrorist threat in Europe comes as Western governments, along with the US, largely ignored warnings about Daesh’s nearly open recruitment of fighting forces across Europe and their transfer – through Turkey – to Syria, where the West, along with its regional allies, was sponsoring a massive terror campaign to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The warnings about the massive recruitment of Europe-based terrorists fueled concerns about the prospect of battlefield-trained terrorists returning to Europe and potentially waging terror attacks there.

Source: Abna 24