Long rumored to be happening, the Nigerian Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has pledged their allegiance to ISIS and is calling on Muslims around the world to do the same.
“We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims … and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah,” leader Abubakar Shekau said in an audio recording posted to Twitter on Saturday. “We call upon Muslims everywhere to pledge allegiance to the Caliph.”
Boko Haram, which has been attempting to form their own caliphate since 2009, has been releasing videos stating that Islam is commanded to take over the world and that they would not stop until every Christian in the world was killed.
“Boko Haram joining the ISIS fold makes sense to both groups,” Jacob Zenn with the Jamestown Foundation told CNN. “Boko Haram will get legitimacy, which will help its recruiting, funding and logistics as it expands into (French-speaking) West Africa. It will also get guidance from ISIS in media warfare and propaganda. Previously Boko Haram was a sort of outcast in the global Jihadi community. Now it is perhaps ISIS’s biggest affiliate.”
The announcement by Boko Haram marks the 31st terrorist group to pledge allegiance to ISIS.
A California man has been arrested for lying on a passport application as he attempted to join the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Adam Dandach, 21, has also been charged with obstructing justice by attempting to destroy records of his online activity before they could be seized by investigators.
Dandach was stopped at the Orange County airport while attempting to board a flight to Turkey. He carried an “expedited replacement passport” that he obtained after claiming he threw away his old passport by accident. Prosecutors say that the man’s mother confiscated the passport when she discovered his plan to join ISIS, so he knew the claim was false.
Court papers showed that Dandach was more disappointed in not being able to join ISIS than he was to be arrested for lying to officials.
If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison on a terrorism related count and 25 years on each of the other counts in the indictments.
A man engaged in human trafficking for ISIS forcing Syrian refugee children into prostitution has been arrested by Turkish authorities.
Ahmet Yumusak, 29, was captured by Turkish authorities who were investigating an attack on a soldier and police officer that took place last year. During the investigation, they had Yumusak approach them to discuss paying for sex with underage Syrian refugee girls that were under control of ISIS.
After this arrest, authorities discovered he was sending young girls into Syria to be abused and married off to ISIS terrorists.
Authorities say they are unable to determine the total number of young girls that were forced into ISIS control by Yumusak but the number is well into the hundreds.
Police say that Yumusak also worked as a conduit for western girls and women that wanted to join the terrorist group.
The terrorist who attacked a soldier and then stormed the Parliament before being killed by security forces left behind a video made moments before the attack explaining his intentions.
Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, said in the video that Canada had no business in Afghanistan and that Canadian troops were “not even safe in your own land.”
“Canada’s officially become one of our enemies by fighting and bombing us and creating a lot of terror in our countries and killing us and our innocents,” Zehaf-Bibeau says in the video he made in his car, which was released by police on Friday. “So we [are] just aiming to hit some soldiers just to show you’re not even safe in your own land and you got to be careful.”
Police say that the terrorist had applied for a passport with the intention of fleeing Canada and joining ISIS in Syria.
Ironically, the killer had reconnected with his family just before the attack. He had lunch with his mother two days before the assault, the first time he had contacted her in five years.
“No words can express the sadness we are feeling at this time,” Susan Bibeau said in a statement on behalf of herself and Bibeau-Zehaf’s father, Bulgasem Zehaf, after the shooting.
“We are so sad that a man lost his life. He has lost everything and he leaves behind a family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow. We send our deepest condolences to them although words seem pretty useless. We are both crying for them,” said Bibeau, who works as a federal public servant for the Immigrant & Refugee board and lives in Montreal.
A Palestinian terrorist drove his car into a group of people waiting for a train in East Jerusalem injuring seven people before being shot by guards.
Six of the wounded were female Israeli soldiers.
The terrorist jumped out of the car after plowing into the crowd waving around a knife. He was able to stab one pedestrian before he was shot by security.
“The swift and determined response stopped the attack as it was beginning and prevented more innocents from being injured,” said Moshe Edri, regional police commander.
The attack happened during the Jewish holiday of Purim and police officials say that it’s not likely there is not a connection between the attack and the holiday. However, local officials said that all holiday celebrations will continue as planned.
“We will not let terror disrupt our daily routine, and we will fight it without compromise,” said erusalem mayor Nir Barakat. “I invite all residents of the country to celebrate Purim in Jerusalem and to support it.”
A new release from the terrorist group ISIS claims that an American carried out a terrorist bombing earlier this week.
“The brother Abu Dawud al-Amriki (may Allah accept him) launched himself with his explosives-laden truck,” an ISIS bulletin read, according to AFP news agency.
CNN claims that U.S. government officials have not confirmed the identity of the bomber but did admit that at least 150 Americans have made their way to Syria and Iraq to fight with the terrorists.
However, two senior Iraqi officials confirmed the attack.
The news of the attack has further stirred up concern on Capitol Hill concerning potential domestic terrorists. Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said that Syria has the largest collection of Islamic terrorists in world history.
“I am worried about our ability to combat this threat abroad, but also here at home. I wrote to the president recently as part of my ongoing investigation and raised concerns that we have no lead agency in charge of countering domestic radicalization and no line item for it in the budgets of key departments and agencies,” McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said at the time.
A CNN report says most Americans who joined ISIS are in their late teens or early 20’s who had expressed online and in conversations with friends conflict between western life and the teachings of Islam.
A man that the U.S. government has designated a terrorist has been found leading Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS.
The man is Major General Qasem Suleimani, the Iranian spymaster and leader of the special operations wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Photographs from the war theater around Tikrit showed Suleimani providing direction to senior Iraqi officials fighting to take the town back from ISIS. Analysis say the discovery shows the growing influence of Iran on the Iraqi government.
“I know we’re keeping our distance physically from them in Baghdad,” Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J said. “Have we ceded most of the governance of Iraq to Iranians?…And will the military operations that are undergoing, which we are watching, divide the country and require us in some ways to spend more of our resources?”
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that he shared the concern of the representatives about who would be influencing the region if the troops drive ISIS out of the major cities in the region.
Intelligence officials say that 2/3 of the Shiite militia fighting ISIS are loyal to Iran.
A Pakistani man who was brought to the U.S. from Great Britain on terrorism charges has been found guilty.
Abid Naseer was found guilty in a jury trial of providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiracy to use a destructive device. He faces life in prison at his sentencing as part of the condition for him to be extradited for trial is that the death penalty would not be considered.
The jury’s decision took a day after closing arguments on Monday.
“If the defendant hadn’t been stopped, hundreds of innocent men, women and children wouldn’t be alive today,” prosecutor Zainab Ahmed said during closing arguments. “He was trying to cover up his motive for revenge against the United States and its NATO allies. Revenge was the defendant’s motive.”
Naseer defended himself in court and said that the government did nothing to prove connection to al-Qaeda and all the email communications they pointed out where just him trying to find a wife.
The Vatican has confirmed that ISIS has threatened to kill Pope Francis but that so far they have not been able to find evidence of an imminent attack.
The Pope, meanwhile, has ramped up his criticism of the terrorist group, condemning the “intolerable brutality” of the group.
The terrorists released a video last week talking about conquering Rome, installing Shariah law and then throwing gays from the top of “the leaning power of pizza.”
“The threat exists. This is what has emerged from my conversations with Italian and foreign colleagues,” said Domenico Giani, inspector general of the Corpo della Gendarmeria, Vatican City’s state police force.
The Pope has called on those around the world to do everything they can to show Christ’s love to the victims of the brutality of ISIS.
The inspector general said Pope Francis has refused to change the way he deals with the public and refuses to cancel public appearances because of the ISIS threats.
“Even as pope, he’s still a priest who doesn’t want to lose the contact with his flock. It’s us, those in charge of his safety, are the ones that have to help him, not the other way around,” Giani added.
ISIS terrorists shocked man by releasing 19 Assyrian Christians out of the hundreds they captured during raids last week.
The terrorists at the last minute kept a 6-year-old girl and a negotiator told the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) the terrorists likely plan to use the girl as a bargaining chip.
AINA estimates that over the last week, ISIS has captured up to 373 Christians from various villages.
The UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Saturday that a Sharia court ordered the release of 29 captives, not 19, and ISIS is now showing they will ignore their own courts.
“ISIS has claimed for a long time to follow rules, and it claims that these Sharia courts will impose limits,” Graeme Wood of The Atlantic told CNN. “They can attempt to get credibility by showing that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of Sharia law.”
Witnesses say that at least 15 of the Christians have been killed by the terrorists.