Daesh on Sunday called on its supporters to “take advantage” of the war in Ukraine to resume terrorist attacks in Europe. The jihadist group has also promised to avenge the death of its last leader last February.
The stated aim is to seize the “opportunity” of a “crusader fight” (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), Abu Omar al-Muhajir, the terror group’s spokesman, said in a statement. audio statement broadcast Sunday on Telegram.
On February 3, US President Joe Biden announced the death of former Daesh leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hachimi al-Qurachi, who blew himself up during an operation by US special forces in the north- western Syria, a region under the control of jihadists.
His death, as well as that of the group’s former spokesperson, was confirmed by the jihadist group on March 10.
10,000 active fighters
Abu Hassan al-Hachimi al-Qourachi, the new leader of the radical Sunni organization, the third of the group since its creation, has so far made little headlines.
According to a UN report published last year, Daesh “maintains a largely clandestine presence in Iraq and Syria and is waging a sustained insurgency on both sides of the border between the two countries”.
In these two countries, the jihadist organization would retain “in all 10,000 active fighters”, according to the same source.