Security agencies issued an alert early this month on the possibility of human bombs targeting vital installations or targeted individuals as part of an IS terror plot to eliminate enemies of jihad .
Acting on specific information that ‘Al-Saqri Foundation for Military Sciences’ had published a book in multiple languages on the ways and means of making explosive belts and vests, the alert was issued to intensify security arrangements at vantage points, sources in the intelligence agencies told The Hindu on Sunday.
The book titled The Mobile Bomb, released by “Al-Azm Media Foundation” associated with the IS, explains how various types of explosive belt/vests could be made with different chemicals. Besides explanatory content on the making of bombs, the book lays emphasis on ‘Media Jihad’.
While the accounts of many IS supporters were blocked by cyber security agencies in the recent months, the book was being circulated on certain social media platforms by activists propagating the jihadi ideology. “Working in the media is the same as performing jihad …if your intentions are right, then the media jihad against the enemy is not less important than facing the enemy in a fight,” a police officer quoted an excerpt from the book.
Evade cameras
IS urged its cadres to avoid being noticed or identified in surveillance cameras while executing their plans and start their mission from remote or deserted locations where there would be no Closed Circuit Television network. Calling for meticulous planning, the terrorist outfit urged its operatives to cover their faces, change bodily features and use different number plates for vehicles during the operations in remote or deserted locations, the sources said.
Stating that the IS soldiers were fighting the fiercest of battles, including those who carried out ‘martyrdom’ attacks, the outfit called upon its sympathisers to support by way of spending time, effort and money and prevent the enemy from accessing information about the jihadists.
The alert sent to all city and district police chiefs in the State has come at a time when security forces have enhanced cover following an input that armed militants in Afghanistan could “aggressively” infiltrate into India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. Security has also been beefed for Israeli establishments, settlements and tourists following information that they could be targeted, the sources added.
