Islamic State video warns of attack on Washington

Islamic State (IS) warned in a new video that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to attack Washington.

The video, which appeared on a site used by IS to post its messages, begins with news footage of the aftermath of Friday’s Paris shootings in which at least 132 people were killed.

The message to countries involved in what it called the “crusader campaign” was delivered by a man dressed in fatigues and a turban, and identified in subtitles as al Ghareeb the Algerian.

“We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the centre of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America in Washington,” the man said.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the video, which purports to be the work of Islamic State fighters in the Iraqi province of Salahuddine, north of Baghdad.

The French government has called the Paris attacks an act of war and said it would not end its air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq.

‘Al Ghareeb the Algerian’ also warned Europe in the video that more attacks were coming.

“I say to the European countries that we are coming, coming with booby traps and explosives, coming with explosive belts and [gun] silencers and you will be unable to stop us because today we are much stronger than before,” he said.

Apparently referring to international talks to end the Syrian war, another man identified in the video as al Karrar the Iraqi tells French president Francois Hollande “we have decided to negotiate with you in the trenches and not in the hotels”.

Meanwhile, the Anonymous hackers collective is preparing to unleash waves of cyberattacks on IS following the attacks in Paris, it said in a video posted online.

A man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask said the IS militants who claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks were “vermin” and Anonymous would hunt them down.

“These attacks cannot remain unpunished,” the man said in the video, speaking in French. “We are going to launch the biggest operation ever against you. Expect many cyberattacks. War has been declared. Get ready.”