The jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) vowed on Sunday to “revenge” its former leader who died in February and urged its supporters to use the war in Ukraine to resume their attacks in Europe.
On February 3, US President Joe Biden announced the death of former ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hachimi al-Qurachi, who blew himself up during a US special forces operation in northwestern Syria, a jihadist-controlled region had. His death, along with that of the group’s former spokesman, was confirmed by IS on March 10.
IS is also calling for renewed attacks in Europe
“We are announcing, trusting in God, a blessed campaign to avenge the death of the leader of ISIS,” said Abu Omar al-Muhajir, the group’s spokesman, in an audio statement assigned to them, posted to Telegram on Sunday was broadcast.
ISIS also urged its supporters to resume their attacks in Europe, using the “opportunity” of “crusader combat” and citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abu Hassan al-Hachimi al-Qourachi, the new leader of the radical Sunni organization, the group’s third since its inception, has made few headlines so far. After a meteoric rise in Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014 and the seizure of vast territories, ISIS saw its self-proclaimed “Caliphate” toppled under the blow of successive offensives in those two countries in 2017 and 2019 respectively. .
10,000 fighters still active between Iraq and Syria?
But Islamic State “maintains a largely covert presence in Iraq and Syria and is leading an ongoing insurgency on both sides of the border between the two countries,” according to a UN report released last year.
In those two countries, the jihadist organization would retain “a total of 10,000 active fighters,” according to the same source. IS has also claimed responsibility for attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and jihadist groups close to it also operate in Africa.