ISIS’s fanatics shared a disturbing propaganda image threatening a Christmas-time attack on New York City just weeks before an explosion was felt Monday morning in a Times Square subway station.
The image showed Santa Claus standing on a low roof next to a box of dynamite looking out over a crowd of shoppers in Times Square.
The poster featured the words ‘We meet at Christmas in New York… soon’, written across it in black on white.
Four people, including the suspect, were hurt following a pipe bomb explosion in a New York City subway at the height of the morning rush hour on Monday.
Warning: The propaganda poster shows Santa Claus looking out over a crowd of shoppers with the words; ‘we meet at Christmas in New York… soon’.
A suspect has been taken into custody after an explosion at the Port Authority subway station in New York City Monday morning. The suspect has been identified as a 27-year-old Bangladeshi national (pictured above)
Commuters said they felt a blast in the Subway tunnels underneath the Port Authority Bus Terminal around 7.30am.
The bus terminal is a major transit hub for people commuting to and from New Jersey by bus, and is located just a block from Times Square.
Police have taken one man into custody, who was carrying a pipe bomb with a battery back. He was injured when the bomb malfunctioned, but is alive and in stable condition, according to the FDNY.
The FDNY says a total of four people were injured and that the injuries were non-life-threatening. The injured count includes the suspect.
While the suspect has not been identified by name, the New York Post reports that he is 27-year-old Bangladeshi national who lives in Brooklyn and has been in the United States for seven years.
The man was carrying an ID that listed his name as Akayed Ullah.
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that the suspect ‘supposedly was setting the device off in the name of ISIS’ and that it was ‘definitely a terrorist attack, definitely intended’.
Chilling: Another poster shared on encrypted channels show Santa kneeling in front of a terrorist with London’s Regent Street in the background
One poster shows a jihadi with a bloody knife looking out over a Christmas market with the Eiffel Tower in the background and the message ‘soon in your holidays’
ISIS have issued a series of propaganda images warning of attacks during Christmas Time across Europe.
Terrorists using encrypted communication channels have been sharing posters of London’s Regent Street decked out in Christmas lights, and Paris’ Eiffel Tower with a Christmas markets in the foreground.
Images of jihadists and blood have been superimposed on the holiday scenes, with a message in English, French, and German stating: ‘Soon on your holidays’.
A poster emerged in November showing a terrorist overlooking St Peter’s Square in the Vatican with rocket launcher, along with a message urging extremists: ‘Do not hold back with your blood, the reward is paradise.’
The message warned that ‘the crusaders’ feast is approaching’, alluding to a Christmas attack the Catholic church’s holy city.
‘Their convoys will crowd itself in front of you prepare and plan for them show them the meaning of terrorism.’
Further threats: ISIS fanatics have also urged jihadists to attack Rome in an online poster showing a wolf overlooking St Peter’s Square
Also last month, a poster was shared online showing a masked figure driving towards St Peter’s Basilica in the with a gun and a backpack inside his car.
At the top of the poster is the message ‘Christmas blood’ with the line ‘so wait…’ written in red underneath.
The group’s propaganda wing – the Wafa Media Foundation – is continuing to churn out threats despite the regime suffering huge losses in Syria and Iraq.
And ISIS is increasingly turning to lone-wolf supporters to take up its violent cause around the world.
‘Wafa Media Foundation specialises in these types of graphics. Wafa’s threat, like others recently issued by pro-ISIS media groups, is a specific attack directive within a larger push by ISIS for lone wolf attacks as it rapidly loses territory in Iraq and Syria,’ Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group,
‘Though these threats should be taken seriously, there is also a publicity element to pro-ISIS media groups’ threats against places like the Vatican or events like 2018 FIFA World Cup.’
The propaganda images are a chilling reminder of the terror attack on a Berlin Christmas Market last year.
Instructed by ISIS, Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri drove a truck into the crowds at the Christmas Market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin on December 19.
A dozen people died, including the original driver of the truck who was shot by Amri when he hijacked the vehicle, and 56 others were injured.