Tagged: MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky

ISIS calls on jihadists to buy weapons at gun shows to carry out attacks, lists top public spaces to assault

(HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY) By: Anthony Kimery

ISIS has called on jihadists to find ways of buying and acquiring firearms to wage holy war on Western infidels in the article, Just Terror Tactics, published in the 9th issue of ISIS’s magazine, Rumiyah, released Thursday. The report said, “The acquisition of firearms can be very simple, depending on one’s geographical location.”

the last full page of the article instructs lone wolves how to use trucks in an attack. Outdoor markets and rallies, parades and congested streets are recommended as points of attack.

“The 9th issue of Rumiyah highlights once again that one of the terror organization’s continued goal is to inspire lone wolf actors in the West, which has proven to be successful, MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky told Homeland Security Today. “An interesting note about the most recent edition and its article, Just Terror Tactics, which suggests very specific targets, shows that Westerners, including an increasing number of Americans, are not only supporting groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda – but that they continue to help and lead in the group’s propaganda efforts.”

Stalinsky further said, “It should also be noted that both ISIS and Al Qaeda continue to copy each other’s call of specific targets and methods as, Just Terror Tactics, highlighted by calling on lone wolf actors to get guns from gun shows for attacks, noting that the article explained that in most US states, anything from a single-shot shotgun all the way up to a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle can be purchased at showrooms or through online sales – by way of private dealers – with no background checks, and without requiring either an ID or a gun license. And with approximately 5,000 gun shows taking place annually within the United States, the acquisition of firearms becomes a very easy matter.”

Stalinsky also pointed out that a video from 2011 featured American-born Al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn discussing how easy it is to buy firearms in the United States, and urged fellow jihadists to do so.

“America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms,” said Gadahn, “You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?”

The newest ISIS magazine article though “suggests numerous ways to kill Westerners,” said the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which monitors jihadi social media. “In order to purchase a firearm in the US, the article recommends going to gun shows or buying online. In another section, it gives tips on the best places to take hostages.”

The latest Rumiyah report suggested that, “Ideal target locations for hostage-taking scenarios include night clubs, movie theaters, busy shopping malls and large stores, popular restaurants, concert halls, university campuses, public swimming pools, indoor ice skating rinks and generally any busy enclosed area, as such an environment [that] allows for one to take control of the situation by rounding up the kuffar present inside and allows one to massacre them while using the building as a natural defense against any responding force attempting to enter and bring the operation to a quick halt. Similarly, characteristics of a good target location include low light conditions, as it grants one the ability to maneuver between the people, taking advantage of the confusion and killing as many of the kuffar as physically possible.”

“A subsection dedicated to luring targets suggested placing fake job or real estate ads on platforms such as Craigslist and eBay,” MEMRI said.

A section of the report called, “Armed with a Firearm,” provides a “scenario for such an attack is that one assaults a busy, public and enclosed location and rounds up the kuffar who are present. Having gained control over the victims, one should then proceed to slaughter as many of them as he possibly can before the initial police response, as was outstandingly demonstrated by the mujahidin who carried out the Bataclan theatre massacre during the course of the blessed Paris raid in which the three soldiers of the Khilafah, armed with assault rifles and hand grenades, stormed the theater, taking up positions and firing at the Crusader citizens present.”

“After having killed and injured many of them, those remaining of the kuffar were taken hostage so as to slow any efforts of the responding kafir armed forces from storming the theater,” the ISIS magazine report said. “The raid was immensely successful, resulting in the harvest of 89 dead Crusader citizens and over 200 wounded. Similarly, Omar Mateen superbly demonstrated this scenario when, having armed himself with an assault rifle and a handgun, he single-handedly slaughtered 49 sodomites – by Allah’s permission – and wounded 44 others, taking advantage of the slow initial police response and utilizing that window of opportunity to massacre as many of them as he possibly could.”

“If one does not possess any direct or informal contact with any gun dealers, he should abstain from randomly asking people whom they consider ‘trust­worthy’ for help in acquiring them, as in many cases this can lead to one falling into the trap of police sting operations or, at the very least, bringing upon oneself unnecessary suspicion,” the report said, nothing, “Other methods of obtaining firearms in the West include raiding one of the hundreds or maybe thousands of hunting and tactical military stores by ramming one’s vehicle through the shop’s door when it’s closed and then entering the shop and seizing as many weapons as one can take. Alternatively, after some simple reconnaissance, one could follow the shop owner after he’s closed for the day, ambush him or run him over with a vehicle, and then take his keys in order to gain access to the store’s arsenal, and any other location where he might be storing firearms and ammunition. Such targets, though potentially offering a considerable gain in terms of ghanimah [war loot], are ambitious in nature and should be pursued while keeping in mind that tactical and gun shop owners are normally the type who arm and train themselves, and would not be as averse to engaging in a firefight when attacked.”

In “luring targets,” the report said, “Those residing in the lands of disbelief will surely note the ease and simplicity in achieving the confidence and trust of a disbeliever. Portraying oneself to them as harmless gives them the impression that they are secure and free from danger. This deceptive approach of luring the kafir is something that can be easily accomplished through various methods.”

For example, ISIS said, “Advertising a Job. Advertising a fake job by way of posting one’s ad at a local unemployment center will undoubtedly attract a response, and one may then filter out one’s sought after target (i.e. any male kafir) by advertising a job that is likely to attract that type of person. As an example, one might advertise a job vacancy that Muslims would not seek, or that may only appeal to men. After garnering a significant amount of applicants, one can then arrange the ‘job interview’ location and times, spacing out the applicants’ appointment times so as to give oneself time to subdue classified sections, or by means of online sites for classified advertising, or by simply writing or printing out ‘For Rent’ advertisement posters which can be stuck on walls, lampposts or in local store windows within the vicinity of the property in question, leaving a contact number that one can be reached on. In order for the advertisement not to attract large families – thus making it difficult to initiate an attack, especially if one is alone in his operation – the advertisement should be for a small single room or studio apartment. This will help ensure that the viewer comes alone. It might even help to include in the ad that the apartment is ‘ideal for students.’”

Continuing, ISIS said, “Second-hand buy and sell groups” are also a good source. “Online sales by way of buy and sell websites such as Craigslist, Gumtree, eBay, the Loot and others are an alternative means to luring one’s victims. In many cases, the collection of the product must be done in person – when the buyer and seller reside in the same country – especially when the product being advertised for sale is high in value or large in size. The advertisement should specify that collection and payment is only available in person and that only cash is accepted. Also, the item being advertised should be something that requires the victim to enter one’s property. For example, a car wouldn’t require the target to enter the seller’s property as the vehicle would be expected to have been parked in the driveway or in front of the property.”

“It is like­wise important to be realistic when advertising and not advertise something far below its valued price, as this can attract the attention of authorities searching for stolen goods or possibly attract other suspicions,” the ISIS guide said. “The viewing and collecting of the item should be arranged to be at the location where one seeks to carry out his operation. Upon the target’s arrival, one can then proceed to initiate his attack.”

The article emphasized that, “In order to ensure the success of the operation, there are a few important points to remember and some prior measures to be taken.”

First is, “The remembrance of Allah, and constantly reminding oneself that this action is worship, and that Allah has obliged us to ‘kill the mushrikin’ wherever we find them, and to ‘fight the disbelievers who are closest’ to us.”

Also, “Having a location in which to execute an operation is a necessary requirement and every site where one is intending to initiate his massacre should have the appearance of the location which was used as a method by which to lure them. In practical terms, this means that if the method used to lure them was a false advertisement for a house or apartment for rent, then the location should be a house or an apartment, and if the method used to lure them was a job application, then the location should resemble, in some way, a place that relates to work, such as an office, even if that requires renting the premises.”

“Having a room specifically reserved for the disposal of the bodies of the targets is also important for the obvious reason of not alerting those intended victims entering the property after them,” the ISIS guide on killing infidels explained. “One must space out the arrival times of one’s victims, thus granting him the ability to initiate his attack while they are alone. One should not initiate his attack until the target has fully entered the property and is comfortable, so as to avoid any struggle and prevent the chance of him fleeing.”

ISIS continued, saying, “It is essential to have a suitable weapon for one’s operation, i.e.: a strong, sharp knife, and possibly a bat or a small club that one may use to subdue the victim by striking them over the head before slaughtering them.”

“One should” also “have present with him at the location some easy means of restraining the targets, such as handcuffs, which are widely available for sale to the general public. A more discrete alternative is to purchase what are known as plastic cable ties (‘zip ties’), which are also commonly used as restraints,” ISIS said. “One should ensure that if there are any screams from his victim, they do not result in the operation being compromised. This can be resolved by simply having a background noise that drowns out any other sounds, such as raising the volume of the television, radio, etc.”

The ISIS guide continued, saying, “The focus of the discussion thus far has been on gaining control over multiple kuffar – either by storming an enclosed public site, or luring them to an enclosed private location, thereby making it extremely difficult for them to flee – and then dispatching them either in an immediate or near-immediate time frame. However, in order for the operation to gain wide publicity and more effectively plant terror into the hearts of the disbelievers, one can keep some of his victims alive and restrained, making for a more lengthy and drawn-out hostage scenario. One may then notify the authorities, explaining to them that he is a soldier of the Islamic State and informing them of what he has just done.”

“This will, of course,” ISIS stated, “result in his location being surrounded, and eventually stormed, by armed forces. In such a scenario, he can delay their entry by using the surviving hostages as human shields – only keeping alive those necessary for this purpose. The intention of this delay is therefore only to prolong the terror, as the ideal scenario is that they storm the location and he is killed as a shahid [martyr] – inshaallah – after having inflicted upon the kuffar a just massacre.”

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