Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

ISIS Calls Supporters to Increase Mowing down of Pedestrians in London | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. (Reuters)


London – ISIS called on its supporters in Britain target pedestrians by driving them over in congested central areas in the capital London, using trucks liked the one used in last year’s Berlin attack.

Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus are singled out as “ideal targets” in the latest edition of the terror group’s online magazine, “Dabiq.”

An article on “terror tactics” advises on the best type of vehicle to use — “large in size and heavy in weight” with a “slightly raised chassis and bumper”.

The magazine praised the “heroic” perpetrators of 2016’s Nice and Berlin lorry attacks, as well as Khalid Masood, who ran down four people in his car on Westminster Bridge in March and stabbed a policeman to death.

Outdoor festivals, markets and rallies were listed in the article as other potential targets in London.

A piece on “terror tactics” told supporters the best type of vehicle to use in a terror attack — “double-wheeled, load-bearing” trucks with a “slightly raised chassis and bumper”, which are “fast in speed or rate of acceleration” are identified as features that would maximize the number of casualties would-be terrorists are told to look out for, according to Sunday Times.

Masood and three people were killed, including one policeman, when he ran pedestrians over with a vehicle on Westminster Bridge on March 22.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard refused in a phone call with Asharq Al-Awsat to comment on ISIS’s call to urge its supporters to target pedestrians in London, saying: “We cannot comment on all the threatening documents Dabiq magazine releases.”