IntelBrief: Islamic State Threat to the West and New Campaign Targeting Sporting Events

Bottom Line Up Front

• Islamic State, particularly its South Asian affiliate IS-Khorasan (IS-K), and pro-IS propaganda outlets IS-K directly collaborate with, launched an aggressive and concentrated information operation to encourage violence against sporting events throughout the West, and Europe in particular.
• IS-K, in its latest video, threatened the West and showed footage of attacks in the US, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and more, while in its Eid statement a few weeks ago, IS-K implored its supporters to “join the battlefield in your country and emulate the historic operations in Moscow.”
• The pro-Islamic State Halummu propaganda outlet told sympathizers to attack the “bleachers and games in stadiums,” and an Arabic-language poster encouraged attacking the Paris Summer Olympics with dynamite, explosives, Molotov cocktails, and knives.
• The new concentrated campaign to threaten and target sporting events in the West will require significant security preparation and vigilance given the stated intent and ability of IS to carry out directed operations and inspire violence.