ISIS Urges Followers in Europe to Resort to Cyanide Poisoning

A shopper checks her shopping list in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
A shopper checks her shopping list in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
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ISIS Urges Followers in Europe to Resort to Cyanide Poisoning

A shopper checks her shopping list in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
A shopper checks her shopping list in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

ISIS terrorist organization has issued new threats to Europe by urging its supporters to resort to cyanide poisoning in grocery stores and supermarkets.

In a cryptic message posted by ISIS on a channel traditionally used by these terrorists, lone wolves are called forth by the organization to embark on this latest act by using the poison as a new hidden weapon against the West.

Observers said that the group is resorting to new techniques after the huge losses it suffered in Iraq and Syria after losing control on Mosul, Tal Afar and large areas of Raqqa despite ISIS’ claims that it is the most influential group in the world.

ISIS told its supporters that the cyanide poisoning method has been tested on prisoners and it works.

The observers said several casualties have been reported after ISIS used the food poison tests on the prisoners.

Cyanide is a highly toxic chemical compound. It is mostly known in spy movies whereby it is used to get rid of the enemy or resorted to as suicide pills by spies, just in case they were captured.

The organization has also given instructions to issue threats in forms of fliers distributed in public and through mail boxes to terrorize the greatest number of people.

Amr Abdulrahman, a researcher on Islamic movements in Egypt, said that ISIS’ new terrorist plot lies in causing thousands of casualties.

He warned that the group could resort to establishing small cells in Europe to carry out large scale terrorist attacks to spread panic in the West.



6 Americans Detained for Trying to Send Rice and Bibles to North Korea by Sea

FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
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6 Americans Detained for Trying to Send Rice and Bibles to North Korea by Sea

FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - Neighborhoods of North Korea's Kaepoong village are seen from the observation post in Ganghwa, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Six Americans were detained Friday in South Korea for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollars bills and Bibles toward North Korea by sea, police said.

The Americans tried to throw the bottles into the sea from front-line Gwanghwa Island so they could float toward North Korean shores by the tides, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to media on the issue. According to The Associated Press, he said they are being investigated on allegations they violated the law on the management of safety and disasters.

A second South Korean police officer confirmed the detentions of the Americans.
The police officers gave no further details, including whether any of the six had made previous attempts to send bottles toward North Korea.

Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border has long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea expressed its anger at the balloon campaigns by launching its own balloons carrying trash into South Korea, including at least two that landed in the presidential compound in Seoul last year.

In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 law that criminalized the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech.

But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up in tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of frontline South Korean residents.

On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.

Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee's government halted frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions. North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then.

But it's unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee's conciliatory gesture after it vowed last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification. Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019 when the US-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed.