According to leaked Pentagon documents, Isis is planning attacks on Europe and Asia.
According to the United States, Afghanistan has become a central coordination point for the extremist organization ISIS for planning terrorist acts less than two years after the US troops were withdrawn from the country.
This is explained by the chat service Discord, based on a spread information leak Washington Post (you will switch to another service) -magazine. According to classified US Department of Defense Pentagon documents, terrorist attacks planned by ISIS in Europe and Asia and “ambitious plans” against the United States are a growing security threat.
Leaked US intelligence documents reveal detailed plans for attacks targeting embassies, churches, shopping malls and the World Cup soccer tournament. Last December, Pentagon employees were aware of nine attacks planned by ISIS from Afghanistan. By February, the number rose to 15.
– Isis has developed a cost-effective operating model for external operations, which relies on resources outside of Afghanistan, actors in the target countries and extensive facilitation networks, states the assessment, marked as top secret, with the logos of several actors under the Ministry of Defense.
The model is expected to make ISIS’ operations more effective.
Kidnapping of diplomats and chemical weapons are planned
The Afghanistan findings are one part of the complex and evolving terrorist threat described in the leaked documents. They are linked to the information leak, which is suspected to be the 21-year-old Jack Teixeira.
Other related documents describe ISIS’s attempts around the world to acquire know-how in the manufacture of chemical weapons and the operation of drones.
They also reveal a plot by the group’s supporters to kidnap Iraqi diplomats in Belgium or France. In order to release the diplomats, Isis would demand the release of 4,000 of its captured soldiers.
The US administration has not confirmed the authenticity of the documents.
Attacks against Sweden were also under consideration
The group has also considered several revenge attacks as a reaction to the Koran burnings by the far right in Sweden and the Netherlands.
According to the documents, attacks on Swedish and Dutch diplomatic facilities in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkey and other countries have been planned. However, apparently no attacks have been carried out.