Islamic State jihadists and sympathisers crowed over the London Bridge attack yesterday as it emerged that the group had called on extremists hours earlier to target markets and run over civilians.
Supporters used the group’s encrypted messaging channels to proclaim that “these are the black days we promised”, according to the Site intelligence website.
A poster in Arabic and English, featuring a handgun, a knife and a lorry reading “gain benefit from Ramadan” and “kill civilians of the crusaders, run over them by vehicles”, was published at the weekend.
The group regularly posts calls to arms, targeting Muslims vulnerable to radicalisation, and in its latest propaganda incited them to exploit Ramadan — a reference to the belief that good deeds receive extra reward in paradise if they are performed during the holy month, which began on May 26. “Muslim brothers in Europe who can’t reach the Islamic State lands, attack them in their homes, their markets, their roads and their forums,” one outlet said said in a video entitled Where are the lions of war? and published on YouTube.
Another message described the Manchester Arena suicide bombing that killed 22 concertgoers last month as a “lesson” to the leaders of the “crusader countries”, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
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“Do not despise the work,” the message added. “Your targeting of the so-called innocents and civilians is beloved by us and the most effective, so go forth and may you get a great reward or martyrdom in Ramadan.”
Last year Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, who was spokesman for the Islamist militia and was killed in Aleppo, had called for “lone wolf” attacks during Ramadan, leading to the bloodiest in many years.