The vague group known as the Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade vowed to task gunmen to attack churches in Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa valley in particular.

The Brigade announced on its twitter account that a “specialized group of free jihadists were tasked with cleansing the Islamic state of Bekaa in particular and in Lebanon in general from the churches.”

“We will target crusaders in the state and in Lebanon to silence the ringing of the bells,” the group said.

The Brigade recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant.

The Islamic State declared over the weekend the establishment of the “Islamic caliphate” led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ordering ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a spectacular bid to extend their authority.

A "caliphate" is an Islamic form of government last seen under the Ottoman Empire.

The mysterious Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade had in the past claimed that it is an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but the ISIL later denied that.

On March 16, the Brigade engaged in a war of words with the al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, believed to be a local franchise of the Syria-based, Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.

The dispute erupted after both groups claimed responsibility on Twitter for a deadly suicide bombing that rocked the Bekaa town of al-Nabi Othman.

The Brigade has claimed responsibility for several rocket and bomb attacks inside Lebanon, the last of which were the suicide blasts in Dahr al-Baydar and Raouche's Duroy Hotel.

H.K.

G.K.