Thursday, July 7, 2016

ISIS 'kill lists' target US synagogues

ISIS has released a 'kill list' naming over 1,700 targets in the US for attack, the International Business Times reported Wednesday, with the choice of target exhibiting the murderous terror group's anti-Semitic tendencies.

The targets are individuals, specifically people with memberships in synagogues of churches, according to the report.

The list was first discovered by intelligence analyst group SITE, after having been released online by the "United Cyber Caliphate", ISIS's computer hacking arm. The directives accompanying the list reportedly call for ISIS sympathizers to carry out more 'lone wolf' attacks of the type seen in the nightclub shooting in Orlando, urging potential terrorists to find the people on the list and: "kill them", or "slay them."

While some have dismissed the list as a meaningless internet post, law enforcement officials in the United States have begun to take these threats more seriously. Nashville news stationWSMV reports that FBI agents are warning people in the area of their inclusion.
“When we find information like this, we’re always doing our best to contact the public, let them know, even if we don’t understand why necessarily that information was out there or compromised,” FBI assistant special agent-in charge Matthew Espenshade said.

SITE provided some background for the practice of publishing 'kill lists'. “With targets spanning drone operators to random civilians, these lists appear to have achieved at least part of their presumed intentions: heightened alert by government workers, FBI visits to startled civilians, and significant media attention.”

According to the intelligence group, use of this tactic has been on the rise, with the number of lists-and the number of names per list-having increased over the past year.