REUTERS
Islamic State
warned in a new video on Monday that countries taking part in air strikes
against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to attack in
Washington.
The video,
which appeared on a site used by Islamic State to post its messages, begins
with news footage of the aftermath of Friday's Paris shootings in which at
least 129 people were killed.
The message to
countries involved in what it called the "crusader campaign" was
delivered by a man dressed in fatigues and a turban, and identified in
subtitles as Al Ghareeb the Algerian.
"We say to
the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have
a day, God willing, like France's and by God, as we struck France in the center
of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in
Washington," the man said.
It was not
immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the video, which purports to
be the work of Islamic State fighters in the Iraqi province of Salahuddine,
north of Baghdad.
The French
government has called the Paris attacks an act of war and said it would not end
its air strikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
French fighter
jets launched their biggest raids in Syria to date on Sunday targeting the
Islamic State's stronghold in the city of Raqqa. The operation was carried out
in coordination with U.S. forces.
Police raided
homes of suspected Islamist militants across France overnight following the
Paris attacks.
"Al
Ghareeb the Algerian" also warned Europe in the video that more attacks
were coming.
"I say to
the European countries that we are coming, coming with booby traps and
explosives, coming with explosive belts and (gun) silencers and you will be
unable to stop us because today we are much stronger than before," he
said.
Apparently
referring to international talks to end the Syrian war, another man identified
in the video as Al Karrar the Iraqi tells French President Francois Hollande
"we have decided to negotiate with you in the trenches and not in the
hotels."
No comments:
Post a Comment