ISLAMIC STATE THREATENS WESTERN ‘DISBELIEVERS’
The Islamic State militant group released a threat against the United States and its allies and urged Muslims to take violent action against “disbelievers.”
Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani warns in the audio recording “that the matter is more dangerous than you have imagined.”
“If you can kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and filthy French — or an Australian or a Canadian or any other ... disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, kill him in any manner,” al-Adnani said.
The statement was released in Arabic late Sunday by the Islamic State’s media arm, Al-Furqan, and appeared on militant sites used by the group. The speaker sounded like one on previous record- ings attributed to al-Adnani.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday that he is confident about his country’s security.
“This threat to kill civilians, added to the execution of hostages and to the massacres, is yet another demonstration of the barbarism of these terrorists,” Cazeneuve said. “France is not afraid, because it is prepared to respond to their threats.”
The message comes as about 130,000 Syrian refugees fleeing Islamic State militants have flooded into Turkey the past four days, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.
The United Nations said Monday that it is stepping up assistance to Turkey to help with the refugees. “This is not a natural disaster. … What we are faced with is a man-made disaster,” Kurtulmus said about the surge of mostly women, children and the elderly that started late Thursday.
The crisis was triggered by fighting between Kurdish forces in Syria and the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIL or ISIS, in the Syrian city of Kobani, a few miles from the Turkish border.
Syria’s own civil war has led to more than 1 million people fleeing to Turkey the past 31⁄2 years.
The new refugee crisis increases pressure on Turkey to do more to combat the Islamic State. The government is in a difficult position. Turkey faces an insurgency from Kurds within its own borders and fears that arming Kurds fighting in Syria could fuel the Kurdish revolt in Turkey.
Turkey has agreed to participate in the U.S.-led coalition to confront the Islamic State but declined to participate in combat.
Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States expects Turkey to step up in fighting the militants.
“We need Turkey, frankly,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, referring to the country’s military capability and regional influence.