ISIS issues hit list of U.S. churches for holiday attacks

Source: RNS

(USA Today) The Islamic State is urging its followers to attack U.S. churches and has published names and addresses of thousands of prospective targets, according to a report in the news website Vocativ.

Messages posted in Arabic to the group’s “Secrets of Jihadis” social media site called “for bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year.” The post, under the name Abu Marya al-Iraqi, said the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, hopes to tap lone wolf attackers to “turn the Christian New Year into a bloody horror movie,” Vocativ reports.

The series of messages appeared on Telegram, a messaging app that allows users to send encrypted messages to one another. The group also uses social media to provide instructions on constructing and igniting explosives.

The information on U.S. churches was based on information already available online and includes a public directory of churches across all 50 states, Vocativ said.

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