Islamic State declares war on Twitter, Barack Obama pledges to 'destroy' outfit

Washington: Members of an Islamic State-affiliated group have threatened to assassinate employees of microblogging site Twitter after their accounts were closed down. The militants have warned the employees against shutting down their accounts and stop them spreading propaganda. Tweeting under the handle @dawlamoon, an Isis-affiliated group claiming to be Al Nusra Al Maqdisia (The Supporters of Jerusalem) called on “lone wolf” terrorists to target the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, reported The Independent.

The tweets from the now suspended account, translated by Vocativ, read: “#TheConceptOfLoneWolfAttacks The time has arrived to respond to Twitter’s management by directly attacking their employees and physically assassinating them!! Those who will carry this out are the sleepers cells of death.” According to Daily Mail, the user threatened workers at the Silicon Valley headquarters: “Every Twitter employee in San Francisco in the United States should bear in mind and watch over himself because on his doorstep there might be a lone wolf assassin waiting.”

“Apart from beheading hostages in Syria, #Attacking_Twitter_Employees is on the agenda of mujahedeen and lone wolves who are across Europe,” another tweet read.

Calling Twitter’s moderation a “vicious war”, the user claimed the closed accounts “found the curriculum of correct Islamic belief” and shows Muslims “what awaits them in the Islamic State”.

Meanwhile, according to reports, up to 60 women are believed to have joined the al-Khansaa brigade, an all-women’s branch of the Islamic State, which is believed to be based in the Syrian city of Raqqa.US-based think tank Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium says the group has been set up to expose people suspected of spying on IS by disguising themselves in women’s clothing, the Telegraph reported.

The brigade’s women are reportedly paid around $161 a month, according to TRAC. Most of the women in the al-Khansaa brigade are aged between 18-24 years.