ISIS: No innocents in heart of the lands of Crusaders; martyrdom on Ramadan a special allure to some

AhlulBayt News Agency - US State Department is urging Americans abroad to stay vigilant amid ISIS calls for a wave of lone-wolf attacks during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.

In a report from the State Department-led Overseas Security Advisory Council warning that “martyrdom during the month may hold a special allure to some,” security officials urged U.S. organizations around the globe to “remain aware of the persistent threat of (ISIS) attacks, both inspired and directed,” according to published reports.

“The terrorism risk at the moment is generally high,” the report cautioned.

The U.S. Embassy in South Africa cited the Ramadan threats and said “terrorist groups are planning to carry out near-term attacks against places where U.S. citizens congregate in South Africa, such as upscale shopping areas and malls in Johannesburg and Cape Town.”

The Ramadan concerns stem from an ISIS official who two weeks ago called for the group’s sympathizers around the globe to attack closer to home if they cannot travel to Iraq or Syria.

“The tiniest action you do in the heart of their land is dearer to us than the biggest action by us,” Abu Mohammed al-Adnani told followers in a 31-minute audio message. “There are no innocents in the heart of the lands of the Crusaders.”

Al-Adnani encouraged ISIS militants to launch attacks during Ramadan, which starts 7th May and runs until July 5, “to win the great award of martyrdom.”

Northeastern University terrorism expert Max Abrahms said the calls for martyrdom mark just how desperate ISIS has become as the barbaric terror group continues to lose territory.

“The [so-called] Islamic State is trying to do anything to generate as much violence as possible,” Abrahms told the Herald. “If they can plausibly incite even one additional person to use violence during Ramadan, this is a good strategy. They are really going as hard as they can to generate violence because there’s a perception — which is true — that the group is getting battered.”

Abrahms said the State Department’s warning should be taken to heart.

“Some people might think that during Ramadan Muslim belligerents would be less likely to use violence, but that is not true,” he claimed.

While the report did not have information about a specific attack, it cited a string of Ramadan attacks last year and noted ISIS declared its so-called caliphate during Ramadan of 2014.

The State Department has not issued a blanket travel warning because of the Ramadan calls for violence, but it has said stadiums and gatherings during the European Soccer Championship “represent potential targets for terrorists, as do other large-scale sporting events and public gathering places throughout Europe.”

ISIS began Ramadan by burning Yezidi girls alive

Islamic State( ISIS ) group executed 19 Yezidi girls who refused to be sex slaves by burning them alive inside iron cages.

"The 19 girls were burned to death while hundreds of people were watching. Nobody could do anything to save them from the brutal punishment," a witness said.

The ISIS extremist jihadists took over 3,000 Yezidi girls as sex slaves after they overran Sinjar in northwest Iraq in August 2014, causing a mass displacement of nearly 400,000 people to Duhok and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The ISIS continues to hold about 1,800 abducted Yezidi women and girls in Iraq and Syria, according to Kurdistan regional government officials.



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