ISIS ‘is using WILDFIRE as terror weapon against its enemies’

ISIS ‘is using WILDFIRE as terror weapon against its enemies’ – with the group claiming responsibility for arson attacks that scorched land in Iraq and Syria and warning this is ‘just the beginning’

  • Terror group says its militants are targeting areas in which ‘apostates’ are living 
  • Blazes hit 11 Iraqi provinces which are known to have tensions with the group 
  • Syrian farmers have also blamed Islamic State for fires in city of Deir ez-Zur

Islamic State claims that it is responsible for wildfires, saying its militants targeted ‘apostates’ in Iraq and Syria.

The terror group says that the fires are ‘just the beginning’ and brags that ‘tons of crops’ have been destroyed.

In its weekly al-Naba news bulletin, the jihadist organisation encouraged other extremists to use arson as a weapon of war this summer.  

Islamic State are being blamed for fires that ravaged Syria

These satellite images show how fire hit Aleppo and Homs in Syria. Islamic State is claiming responsibility for fires in that country as well as in Iraq 

Yesterday Iraq’s Civil Defence Directorate said that 6,103 acres were burned across 136 farms in fewer than three weeks. 

Blazes hit 11 provinces, with the most affected being areas already under target from ISIS.

The Islamists have been kidnapping and murdering inhabitants of Salahuddin, Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala as part of a guerrilla campaign, HS Today reports, which have all been hit by fires.

This graphic shows the fires that have raged across Iraq as Islamic State claims it is using arson as a weapon

This graphic shows the fires that have raged across Iraq as Islamic State claims it is using arson as a weapon

Their claim to be behind the fires come after Middle East Research Institute fellow Kamaran Palani tweeted that militants had threatened villagers in Palani with grain fields being set alight. 

‘The men don’t sleep at night defending the village & the women come back to the village during the day,’ he said on May 21. 

Syrian farmers have also blamed Islamic State for fires in the city of Deir ez-Zur. Back in November the group claimed California wildfires were ‘punishment of bombing Muslims in Syria’ and warned: ‘You will see more fires.’ 

But their endorsement of arson stretches further back, as in January 2017 its Rumiyah magazine  said ‘incendiary attacks have played a significant role in modern and guerrilla warfare, as well as in ‘lone wolf’ terrorism’. 

The jihadist group (pictured, militants in 2014) has warned that fires in Iraq and Syria are just the beginning

The jihadist group (pictured, militants in 2014) has warned that fires in Iraq and Syria are just the beginning 

It suggested targets that included forest areas, dry bush and flammable substances as followers were encouraged to start fires while targets are sleeping.  

Al-Qaeda also has a tradition of promoting arson in a bid to start wildfires. In 2012 the group behind the September 11 attacks on New York spoke of the damage caused by fires in Montana that destroyed 70 house and 100 cars.    

‘Is it possible for us to cause a similar destructive impact using a similar weapon?’ the group asked its members. ‘The answer is: Yes, it is possible. Even in a shorter time and with much bigger destructive impact.’

The comments appeared in a tutorial in the Inspire magazine, which also gave a detailed guide on home to construct an ’ember bomb’. 

  

  

  

 

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