Have ISIS carried out coordinated global attacks?
There have been attacks in France, Tunisia, Kuwait and Somalia today. Credible information from within ISIS command circles, intercepted by Global Risk Awareness, a cyber intelligence company, sees ISIS claiming responsibility for all of these attacks, reports Philip Ingram.
ISIS spokesman Al Adnani said earlier this month “make this a month of victories…a month of disasters, defeats and disgrace for the kuffar everywhere.” In the same briefing he called for Ramadan attacks and to “make it a month of fire for the kuffar”
So what do we know? SecurityNewsDesk has been supplied detailed information by 5 Dimension Consultants who are experts in wider Jihadi issues and Global Risk Awareness a Cyber Intelligence company who can track ISIS reporting.
In Kuwait at 1:04PM local time a suspected suicide bomber detonated his device at Imam Saddiq Shia mosque in al-Sawabir area near the Kuwaiti capital. There are reports of casualties including fatalities. Early pictures shows limited damage to the exterior of the mosque but clearly some worshippers emerged bloodied and wounded due to the attack.
5 Dimension Consultants believe this is the work of the ISIS. They stated in a report on May 25 that following the May 22 ISIS attack against a Shia mosque in Saudi: ” 5 Dimensions believe, further attacks of this kind will target the four GCC countries most active in the campaign against ISIS in Syria: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
ISIS has focused so far on Saudi Arabia, but they are looking at the sectarian powder kegs of Bahrain and Kuwait where this kind of attack could ignite street riots and thus invite a violent crackdown from both the Kuwaiti and Bahraini governments. Kuwaiti citizens from both sects are well armed, as a legacy of the weapons Saddam’s army left behind after withdrawing from Kuwait in 1991.”
Therefore it is their expert assessment that other countries such as Bahrain and UAE are not immune to such incident aiming at undermining the fragile and strained sectarian peace within the GCC countries.
In Tunisia Several gunmen attacked two tourist beach resorts in the costal town of Sousse about 160 kilometers south of the Capital Tunis this morning. The gunmen attacked tourists inside one resort and other gunman attacked with small arms fire a group of tourists relaxing by the beach. Total fatalities so far is at least 27 dead including foreign tourists and that final tally is most likely to rise as not all gunmen are dealt with yet.
5 Dimension Consultants assess that the attackers are most likely Tunisian followers of the ISIS and probably were trained in neighbouring Libya. In a report they produced on June 11 they said: “The Libyan ISIS strategy seems to focus on sending attackers into neighbouring countries such as Tunisia and Egypt with the aim of drawing regional powers, and even possibly NATO into a military campaign in Libya.”
They believe the attack was most likely planned by the ISIS leadership in Libya and that further attacks are likely over the summer and autumn in Tunisia. Judging by the pattern, the attacks will target the Tourism sector just like the Bardo Museum attack earlier this year in the capital Tunis.
Tunisia financial situation is dire and there are fears of sovereign debt default. The tourism industry is one of the most important sources of hard currency for the government’s coffers and therefore any significant reduction in tourism income due to terror attacks will have dire and severe consequences in the short and medium terms for the Tunisian economy, a fact that the ISIS most likely took into consideration when planning such attacks.
In Lego in Somalia, details are sketchy but early reports suggest there are at least 50 dead in latest Al Shabaab attack.
On the attack in France the BBC reported that two men drove into the Air Products gas factory near Lyon in France this morning, before several explosions were heard. Apparently one of multiple suspects arrested over the attack was investigated by police in 2006.
One man found with Arabic inscriptions on him and an Islamist flag, was found dead near the site. At a press conference from Brussels, Mr Hollande, the French President confirmed that two attackers had targeted the chemicals factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, crashing into it in a car. “We have no doubt that the attack was to blow up the building. It bears the hallmarks of a terrorist attack,” he said.
These incidents have all the hallmarks of a globally coordinated set of attacks by ISIS probably aimed, with their attack on Kobane in Syria, to reinforce their strength to supporters in ISIS held territory and elsewhere.
