Islamic State urges jihad against Saudi Arabia
The leader of the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State has called for terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, less than a week after rumors of his death in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike.
Reuters reports that the proclamation to wage violent jihad against Saudi Arabia was made in an audio recording posted on jihadist websites and social media. Reuters said they could not independently verify that the voice in the recording belongs to the head of IS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but they noted it appeared similar to Baghdadi's voice as heard in previously verified videos.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most conservative Islamic regimes, and like IS, regularly beheads people found guilty of crimes that are determined to go against Islamic jurisprudence. Despite this, Saudi Arabia has committed aircraft and pilots to the U.S. led coalition conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the base of IS support and operations. Reuters says that Saudi Arabia's participation in the international coalition is one of the factors motivating Baghdadi's calls for terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, where the group has a large measure of popular support. The speech also announced the spread of IS into five other countries, according to Reuters. Those countries were Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, and Algeria. Reuters notes that after the speech was released, the Egyptian militant group known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which operates in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, changed its name to Sinai Province on its official Twitter. In another portion of the speech, Baghdadi urged the people of Libya, Algeria, and Morocco to prevent secular groups from coming to power, according to Reuters. He also urged Yemenis to rise up against a group known as the Houthis, which recently overran the Yemen capital of Sana, and took control of the government.
