Isis threatens Europe with further terrorist attacks while celebrating 'blessed' Brussels bombings
Investigators said the Belgian capital was targeted because authorities stopped plans to attack France
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Your support makes all the difference.Isis has threatened more attacks on Europe after celebrating its “blessed” bombings in Brussels in the latest issue of its Dabiq propaganda magazine.
The terrorist group sought to present the massacres on 22 March as a well-planned operation, but investigators said the Belgian capital was only targeted in desperation as authorities closed in on a cell planning further attacks in France.
One of the four intended suicide bombers, Mohamed Abrini, is now in police custody after fleeing Brussels Airport and dumping his explosives vest in a bin.
He was conspicuously absent from Isis’ account of the atrocities, where it praised brothers Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui, and Najim Laachraoui, who conspired with Abrini to attack the airport and Maalbeek Metro station, killing more than 30 people.
The propaganda magazine confirmed investigators’ findings that Laachraoui was a bomb-maker for both the Paris and Brussels attacks, saying he “completed his training” after being injured fighting in Syria.
Isis also paid tribute to Mohamed Belkaid, who was shot dead in the Brussels police raid that led to the capture of Salah Abdeslam.
His testimony, alongside that of Abrini and several arrested accomplices, is expected to be crucial allowing intelligence agencies to rout out any remaining Isis networks in Europe.
A spokesperson for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said the cell that carried out the Brussels attacks “initially had the intention to strike in France again”.
“Eventually, surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation, they urgently took the decision to strike in Brussels,” he added.
The account was supported by a panicked note allegedly left by Brahim el-Bakraoui shortly before he blew himself up.
Found on a discarded laptop, it said he felt “in a rush, not knowing what to do, being hunted everywhere, no longer being safe” and feared being caught.
There was little evidence of the supposed resolve presented in Dabiq, where Isis claimed el-Bakraoui “decided to live for his religion in prison”.
Alongside photos of the dead attackers, the magazine contains images of the aftermath of the Brussels attacks including the destroyed airport terminal and train, and bloodied victims.
Isis vowed to continue carrying out global atrocities until all Muslims live under its brutal interpretation of Sharia law.
“Flames ignited years ago in Iraq have now scorched the battleground of Belgium, soon to spread to the rest of crusader Europe and the West,” it said.
“Paris was a warning. Brussels was a reminder.
“What is yet to come will be more devastating and more bitter by the permission of Allah…soldiers of the Islamic State promise their adversaries dark days of death and destruction in their own lands.”
The so-called Islamic State outlined its intention to damage Western economies and infrastructure, repeating previous threats as it continues to feel the impact of air strikes on its territories.
Fighters’ salaries were reportedly halved earlier this year, as a string of money-making schemes were imposed amid a campaign targeting oil revenue.
The US-led coalition has been bombing the terrorist group’s oil fields, supply lines and cash stores since October as part of Operation Tidal Wave II, and an Isis document warning of cuts due to “exceptional circumstances” appeared to show it working.
American officials claimed that operations were already “putting significant damage on Isil’s ability to fund itself” within weeks and vowed to “step up the attack”.
General Lloyd Austin, head of the US Central Command, told reporters in January that it had deprived the group of “millions of dollars” and Antony Blinken, the Deputy Secretary of State, recently outlined significant territory losses.
“Working with local partners, we have taken back 40 per cent of the territory Daesh (Isis) controlled a year ago in Iraq and 10 per cent in Syria,” he said.
“We assess Daesh’s numbers are the lowest they’ve been since we began monitoring their manpower in 2014.”
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