ISIS Terrorist Group: Islamic State Planning to Recruit Americans, FBI and DHS Ask Military Personnel to “Scrub” Social Media
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued a warning to U.S. military, intelligence and law enforcement personnel to be mindful of what they post on social media. Officials have gained intelligence that ISIS plans to attack these groups within the U.S. in similar fashion to attacks in other nations.
The joint statement issued by the two government entities comes after U.S. intelligence learned that the terrorist group has been calling for attacks within the U.S. against the abovementioned groups, according to CBS News.
However, the FBI did not provide information on a specific attack or imminent threat.
"The FBI and DHS recommend that current and former members of the military review their online social media accounts for any information that might serve to attract the attention of ISIL [ISIS] and its supporters," the federal bulletin said, according to ABC News. It advised that troops should "routinely exercise operational security in their interactions online."
The bulletin also strongly suggested that service members ought to scrub their social media accounts of any information that may make them a target or reveal their identity.
U.S. security officials fear an attack similar to the ones in Canada, in which on two separate occasions, young men radicalized by ISIS, attacked Canadian soldiers.
"The FBI recently received reporting indicating individuals overseas are spotting and assessing like-minded individuals who are willing and capable of conducting attacks against current and former U.S.-based members of the United States military," the bulletin continued.
ISIS publicly threatened the U.S. in September before the U.S. began airstrikes against the group in Iraq.
The U.S. and coalition forces have now conducted more than 1,000 bombing missions against ISIS, according to Military.com. U.S. pilots flew the bulk of these missions, a total of 843.
To recruit westerners, ISIS has created its Al Hayat Media Center, which produces high-quality propaganda videos aimed at youths in English-speaking nations. The group also excels at using social media to spread the word.
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