Militants from the so-called Islamic State group have released a video threatening the White House with suicide bombings and auto blasts and vowing to conduct more attacks on France. “We will fry you with [suicide] belts and explosives”, the fighter stated.
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In the new video published on an ISIS-linked jihadi forum, one of two fighters threatened US and French presidents Barack Obama and Francois Hollande with more attacks similar to the Paris massacre, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. “We shall turn it even blacker than our fire by the will of Allah”, a militant says in the video. “We shall track you down wherever you go”, the unnamed ISIS member said in the video titled “Paris Before Rome”. The video showed images of Times Square and other locations, while a terrorist was seen strapping a bomb to himself.
A NY Police Department spokesman said a few of the video footage is old, but the video reaffirms the message the city remains a top target for extremists. Earlier Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey assured Americans during a news conference in Washington, D.C., that while all threats were being taken seriously, no one should live in fear of an impending attack.
“Be aware, but do not be afraid”.
Islamic State, which controls a large territory in Syria and Iraq, has claimed responsibility for last Friday’s attacks in Paris in which 129 people were killed.
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Italy was meanwhile looking for five terror suspects after a tip-off from the Federal Bureau of Investigation about possible jihadist attacks on landmark sites including St Peter’s cathedral in the Vatican, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.
