The Islamic State is targeting the U.S.Army, putting out a hit list of 700 soldiers and ordering its terror army to “kill the dogs.”
United Cyber Caliphate (UCC), the Islamic State’s 3-month-old hacking consortium, has posted a number of such lists. Analysts say most names appear to be publicly available and randomly chosen as opposed to UCC actually hacking into a website and stealing the information.
But in the July 25 posting by the Islamic State — also known as ISIL, ISIS or Daesh — a Pentagon official told The Washington Times analysts have not yet found an open source for the Army “kill list.” The possibility is that one or more government sites were hacked, the source said.
The Islamic State’s U.S.Army list begins with the headline, “We want them #dead. #Revenge for Muslims. kill the dogs.”
The Times reviewed the list. The soldiers are stationed at a number of different bases, including Fort Riley, Kansas, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Fort Belvoir outside Washington, D.C. The list includes their names, addresses, phone numbers and official email addresses.
The soldiers’ professions appear to include infantry and special operations — the types of soldiers now fighting the Islamic State and training Iraqi and Syrian forces.
The Islamic State distributed this list over a channel on Telegram, a popular messaging app that allows the terror group to send encrypted communications, much to the dismay of Western powers.
The group, which operates a so-called capital in Raqqa, Syria, and has branched out to more than a dozen countries, put out a huge list of over 8,000 random names in June. It has also sent smaller lists via social media. One contained the names of police officers in Michigan.
Army headquarters at the Pentagon released a statement to The Times, saying it does not believe it was hacked.
“There is no evidence of any malicious activity or breach at this time on any Army network,” the statement read. “The Army is coordinating efforts with the Department of Defense as we work to determine the validity of any potential threats to personnel. In the meantime, our Criminal Investigation Command is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has provided the information to the chains of command. As always, we encourage soldiers to take prudent measures to limit the sharing of personal information online.”
One of the Islamic State’s gruesome strategies is to radicalize followers from afar and convinced them to kill. Providing lists gives would-be killers an objective.
Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), said the increasing number of kill lists should prompt the Germany government to crack down on Pavel Durov. Mr. Durov, a Russian exile living in Germany, developed and operates the Telegram app.
MEMRI monitors jihadi traffic and captured the U.S.Army kill list.
“In Washington, at meetings I have held with government officials and on Capitol Hill over the past year, I have continually reiterated the need for them to contact the German embassy and to address this issue,” Mr. Stalinsky said. “I am certain that if any jihadi organization was posting kill lists of German government officials, military personnel, and ordinary German citizens, the German government would act immediately.”
Germany, which has taken in tens of thousands of Muslim migrants, has suffered a rash of Islamic terror attacks this summer.
