ISIS-K has threatened to attack Champions League matches tonight after posting an image of a gunman in a football stadium online.
The photo shows a terrorist in full camouflage looking across a stadium with the words “Where do you want” plastered across it.
On the photo, the word “Where” sits atop the purposely designed threat with a slit through the middle of the letters as blood stains drip down the photo.
Three German cities are also mentioned in the image – Berlin, Dortmund and Munich.
The only other text says “Then score the last goal”, seemingly referencing the Champions League games this week.
It is unclear what the threat means exactly, but there are two German sides competing in the semi-finals.
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Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are both looking to create an all German clash in the final as Bayern look to nick a win away in Madrid.
Dortmund have a slightly easier task as they take a one-goal lead to Paris, meaning a draw will take them through.
The image has been posted in Voice of Khurasan – a regular “terror magazine” published online by the squad.
It appears on the final page of the magazine.
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There has been no statement yet from European football’s governing body UEFA or any of the four sides involved in the matches.
Although The Sun can confirm elite anti-terrorist police will be on duty in Paris tonight.
Heavily-armed specialist officers from the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) are expected to be around the stadium
A police source in the French capital said: “Officers from the BRI will be on standby around the ground, along with around 500 regular officers.
“Every eventuality will be covered.”
Paris, where Borussia Dortmund play PSG tonight, have previously announced considerable reinforcements to their match day security after previous terror threats as major events.
France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, warned the security around future Paris Saint-Germain European games will be “considerably reinforced”, last month.
The countries most elite anti-terrorist unit was drafted in for their quarter final match with Barcelona.
Former Bundesliga champions, Bayern, travel to the capital of Spain for their game tomorrow night.
In the previous round, the Spanish government deployed 2,000 extra police officers to guard Real Madrid versus Man City.
Who are ISIS-K
Originally formed in 2015, the group have been a consistent threat to security in Afghanistan, carrying out brutal suicide bombings and vile ceremonial executions.
The “K” refers to the historical region of Greater Khorasan, which included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Despite efforts from the West, the former Afghan government and the Taliban to fight them back – they seized on the chaos sown by the country’s collapse and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality.
One of the most active regional affiliates of the Islamic State militant group, ISIS-K’s membership peaked in 2018 before declining.
It suffered heavy losses inflicted by American air strikes and Taliban forces, reportedly cutting its ranks in half.
However, it got a dramatic second wind after the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country’s fall to the Taliban.
The warped army of barbaric fanatics that even terrify the Taliban – are believed to have led the massacre at a Russian rock concert that killed at least 133.
Earlier this year, the top US general in the Middle East said ISIS-K could attack US and Western interests outside of Afghanistan “in as little as six months and with little to no warning.”
The group was also responsible for an attack on Kabul’s international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and scores of civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country.
They also perform filmed executions and have even been videoed killing children.
This latest warning to fans going to Champions League ties comes less than a month after a sinister poster was revealed by ISIS.
It included the names of the four high-capacity venues hosting quarter final clashes and a message that read: “Kill them all”.
Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, Real’s Santiago Bernabeu, Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium and PSG’s Parc de Princes were all on high alert.
This prompted the reactions from the Spanish and French authorities to step up their protection.
UEFA made a statement on the day of the games saying they were aware of the terror threats.
They said they were “closely liaising with the authorities at the respective venues with appropriate security arrangements in place”.
Thousands of added security were deployed across the European cities hosting the games on hand to identify and dispel any trouble.
Security experts told The Sun armed cops would be stationed on roofs with packs of prowling bomb dogs for the games.
Chris Phillips, a security expert and former police officer, told The Sun that the security operations will even stretch beyond stadiums to city centres and busy transport hubs.
After ISIS singled out the game locations, he said armed cops will be on the lookout for trouble at “train stations, bus stations, even airports” which he says will be “an easier target”.
He said at-risk areas in Paris and Madrid – where the two games are being played this week – will likely be crawling with “firearms officers” with sniffer bomb dogs to deter any terrorist threat.
Chris continued saying the Champions League threat was ISIS “trying to put themselves back on the map”, and a “call to arms” for extremist individuals.
A new wave of bloodshed
In recent weeks, ISIS have resurfaced across Europe and the US in a concerning escalation putting British counter-terror experts on high alert.
Will Geddes spoke to The Sun and said he would not be surprised if the UK’s terror threat level increases.
He said: “I would be remarkably surprised if we did not see a terrorist attack on UK or on European soil, certainly in the next few months.”
These worries have stemmed from a horrific attack in Moscow as four ISIS-K gunmen unleashed gunfire on concert-goers, slaughtering over 140 and publishing horrific videos of their deaths.
It was the worst Islamic extremist terror attack in Europe to date.
London and Paris are expected to take further measures in the coming months as they are both are set to host huge sporting events in the Champions League Final and the Olympics.
France raised its terror threat level to the highest marker after the Moscow attack – meaning an attack is “imminent”.
The UK is yet to announce any increases to the level.
It was also remarkably revealed that cops foiled 12 terror plots across Europe in the past year.
Ten jihadist attacks have been bravely intercepted and prevented in Europe last year, says Dutch intelligence agency AIVD.
Among the attacks foiled include stabbing rampages at global events, and barbaric assaults on specific venues and groups being targeted, the annual report revealed.
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AIVD, the Dutch agency who made the report, listed two potential reasons for the high number of attacks in the last year.
It said: “There were two mobilising issues: the destruction of Korans in the Netherlands and other European countries and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
