This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.
As Canadian airstrikes pound Islamic State (IS) targets in northern Iraq, the media wing of the embattled terrorist organization is busy threatening Canada with more lone wolf–style attacks.
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The Islamic State’s in-house media department—al-Hayat Media—released a nine-minute audio recording from chief spokesperson Abu Mohammed al-Adnani titled “Die in Your Rage.” In the recording the IS spokesperson, who incited attacks on Western targets in September, renews calls for Muslims in the West to “target the crusaders in their own lands.”
His voice, augmented by an echo clearly added by IS’s audio post-production team, urges followers to take the recent attack on the Canadian Parliament as an example.
“Indeed, you saw what a single Muslim did with Canada and its parliament of shirk, and what our brothers in France, Australia, and Belgium did,” says al-Adnani, who also encourages followers to use any means necessary for an attack: “an explosive device, a knife, a bullet, a car, a rock, or even a boot or a fist.”
Last October, two attacks on Canadian servicemen echoed al-Adnani’s previous calls in September for sympathizers to target “disbelievers” in the West. Martin Rouleau—known as Ahmad LeConverti, or “Ahmad the Converted”—ran over two Canadian soldiers near a base south of Montreal, then drew a knife on police before being shot dead. Two days later, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed a soldier at the national war memorial then stormed parliament with a hunting rifle.
“Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car,” said the IS spokesperson at the time.
In the newest message from al-Adnani, he promises a continuation of “terror, fear, and loss of security” in the West, cryptically mentioning the specter of new, more brutal attacks.
“And what lies ahead will be worse,” al-Adnani says in the recording. “[With] Allah’s permission—and more bitter, for you haven’t seen anything from us just yet.”
The IS spokesperson wraps up his message rejoicing in the death of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah calling him the “tyrant of the Arabian peninsula.” Al-Adnani also uses the message to urge Afghan mujahideen to join the Islamic State’s front lines against its growing list of enemies.
For Canadian law enforcement agencies, homegrown terror activities is suddenly a larger concern, with new arrests of alleged domestic terrorists coming just weeks ago following the events in the fall.
This week parliament is set to unveil new anti-terror legislation in what many believe will result in increased powers for Canadian cops and intelligence agencies to surveil terror threats.
Public Safety Canada said the “international jihadist movement” is declaring war on Canada, which is why Canada is deploying the Canadian Armed Forces against the “so-called Islamic State.”
“No Canadian government should ever stand on the sidelines while our allies act to deny terrorists a safe haven—an international base—from which they would plot violence against us,” said a Public Safety spokesperson.
At the same time, the department maintains the domestic terror threat is high and that the government plans to better combat homegrown problems. That will come in the form of expanded powers for law enforcement agencies looking to stop the next Zehaf-Bibeau before an attack.
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