ISIS Threatens Mexico in Newest Video, Lists It as Enemy Nation
Almost two weeks after it launched a deadly attack in Paris, killing 129 and wounded dozens, the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group released a list of "enemy nations," which -- beyond the United States and many of its European and Asian allies -- also includes Mexico.
In a propaganda video, ISIS named 60 countries and accused their governments of having formed a "global coalition against the Islamic State," a reference to the chosen moniker of the group that controls large swaths of territory across Iraq and Syria, according to El País.
The targets, identified by their respective national flags include 37 European nations (Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom), Televisa reported.
Also subject of the threat are 12 countries in the Middle East (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates), two in Africa (Morocco and Tunisia), four in Asia (Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) and two in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand).
The video opens with an English-language challenge, "Bring it on," and promises an ISIS victory over the terror organization's enemies, El País noted. "Your numbers only increase our faith," a voice over message proclaims about the numerous governments that have urged upped efforts to defeat the jihadist group following the Paris incident.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto strongly condemned the militants' actions and promised to use his country's foreign policy to help solve the problem of terrorism, e-consulta reported. "We have deployed alert protocols of prevention and information for those who are or have been in France and will continue to do so," said foreign affairs secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu, adding that Mexico will follow the UN's plan against ISIS.
Canadian officials, for their part, have said that they take the threat from ISIS very seriously, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation noted.
"Civilian soft targets are the ultimate symbolic targets. In the minds of ISIS and related jihadist groups, the objective is to sow sufficient fear and discord through terror attacks that countries will lose the will to fight back," Wesley Wark, a security expert and professor at the University of Ottawa, told the CBC.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com