JAKARTA - The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS is talking about the pandemic, aka the COVID-19 pandemic. They upload an audio recording where someone speaks on the tape. What did he say? Of course the propaganda that pagebluk is a divine punishment.
Reported by Reuters on Friday, May 29, the person in the footage, which was posted on one of the militants' websites, identified himself as an ISIS spokesman named Abu Hamzah al-Quraishi. He also stated that the jihadists would carry out more attacks.
"God, it is His will to send punishment to the current tyrants and their followers ... Who cannot be seen with the naked eye," he said in his allusion to COVID-19.
"Today we are pleased with God's punishment for you," he exclaimed.
The footage is the third recording of a Sunni Muslim group since adopting Abu Ibrahim al Hashemi al Quraishi as its new leader. He was appointed as leader after the death of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi by US special forces in northwest Syria late last year.
Quraishi also urged ISIS fighters everywhere to prepare full force to face those they call enemies of Allah. Quraishi also appealed to the jihadists not to be afraid to attack the places of their enemies.
"Don't let one day go by without making their life terrible," said Quraishi.
A new statement by ISIS spokesman just now pic.twitter.com/QmFwyTXWVM
- Hassan Hassan (hxhassan) May 28, 2020
The Quraishi himself did not give a specific target. However, they named countries where the group is active such as in Syria and Iraq and West Africa.
ISIS has struggled to reconstruct and develop new strategies since Baghdadi's death. They lost their last significant territory in Syria in 2019 after losing in Iraq.
Monitoring website SITE Intelligence Group said the footage looked genuine. "ISIS spokesmen echo the sentiment of the COVID-19 jihad as divine punishment," he said.
US counterterrorism officials have yet to verify the authenticity of the audio, even though the audio recording is clearly from ISIS's central media division, the al-Furqan Foundation. Analysts said the voice appeared to match the one in earlier Qurashi releases.
Not only did he mention the COVID-19 pandemic, Quraishi also touched on terror groups in Iraq and Syria, the US agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the increasing tensions between ISIS and al-Qaeda terror in Africa.
Analysts also say this latest footage may be expected to build on ISIS's recent momentum, given the group has nearly doubled its attacks in Iraq and Syria since March.
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