The Islamic State group — also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — has recently released a video urging its followers and sympathisers from across the world to carry out lone-wolf attacks against "non-believers."

The terrorist group is currently cut off in Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq and one of its former strongholds, and even its leader is suspected to be holed up there. It has also been losing ground steadily in Syria. Hence, it has now reportedly shifted its attention to carrying out attacks in other countries, a few of which were recently foiled in France.

Call to 'believers'

ISIS now wants its sympathisers and followers in other countries to carry out such attacks in those countries, and has released a video — titled "You must fight them O Muwahhids" — on how to perpetrate such attacks with simple tools that can be found at home. "Muwahhid" is a term used to denote unitarians, but in this case is used to refer to the believers of Islam — Muslims.

Starting with a French song on Islam, the video goes on to praise those who carried out lone-wolf attacks in Western countries, saying these people "cast dread into their souls, and filled their hearts with panic" with "only a few bullets and the most basic of equipment." It also says attacks by individuals had caused US troops to leave Iraq physically and emotionally scarred, referring to the various cases of soldiers losing limbs or suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods of attack

The most brutal and barbaric sections of the video detail certain methods of attack, and even explain which weapons can be used to intimidate victims, and how. At one point, an alleged "spy," who is accused of helping Kurdish fighters attack ISIS, is blown up by a bomb in his backpack. At another point, it shows the execution of a crucified victim.

Desperate move?

The video is being seen as a desperate move by the terrorist group to re-establish the fear and hate it once generated. ISIS is currently limited to only the Western part of Mosul, and has lost almost all of its avenues of finance. What is worse for it is Iraqi intelligence sources have now unearthed an "information bank" of the group that contains details of many of its financial dealings, which can now be used to cut off funding from as-yet unidentified sources.