In a somewhat stunning announcement, Spain’s State Secretary for Security, Francisco Martinez, said in an address to the parliament, that extremists connected to the Islamic State (the terrorist organization formerly known as ISIS) have been considering using Ebola as a weapon against the West. As RT reports, Martinez notes a close eye is being kept on online chat rooms, where such attacks are reportedly discussed among jihadist groups where “The use of Ebola as a poisonous weapon against the United States” was the topic of conversation. So far US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson denied these allegations citing "no specific credible intelligence."
The Spanish government said it is concerned that terrorists could use the Ebola virus as a biological weapon against the West. A close eye is being kept on online chat rooms, where such attacks are reportedly discussed among jihadist groups.
Extremists connected to the Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS) have been considering using Ebola as a weapon against the West, Spain’s State Secretary for Security, Francisco Martinez, said in an address to the parliament.
Martinez stated that this type of activity serves as further proof that the internet is an “an extension of the battlefield” for the Islamic State, which uses cyberspace for “threatening enemies through propaganda, preparing operations, exchanging information, ideological training, recruiting new members and acquiring finance.”
Furthermore, Mr Martinez, the second in command in Spain’s interior ministry, said investigators had identified ‘many examples’ of threats to use Ebola as a chemical weapon.
He pointed out three specific cases in which aspiring jihadis ‘linked to ISIS’ had used internet chat rooms to seriously discuss the viability of harnessing the deadly virus and other toxins as part of a new terrorism offensive, according to Spain’s RTVE media company.
One conversation, identified as having taken place between ISIS sympathisers in mid-September, referred to ‘the use of Ebola as a poisonous weapon against the United States,’ he claimed.
Another conversation reportedly saw militants working out how best to employ ‘deadly chemical products’ they had stolen from laboratories.
Mr Martinez went on to say that a spokesman for the terror group had also taken to the internet to urge supporters to kill Westerners by any means possible – adding that he had suggested ‘poisonous injections’ as a possible method.
Despite increasing evidence of biological attacks on the West, US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson denied allegations of the Islamic State’s plans to use biological weapons. “We've seen no specific credible intelligence that [the Islamic State] is attempting to use any sort of disease or virus to attack our homeland,” Johnson said earlier in October.
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