Islamic State threatens retaliation against Americans ‘in any place’
The Islamic State militant group that has seized large parts of Iraq and drawn the first American air strikes since the end of the occupation in 2011 has warned the United States it will attack Americans "in any place" if the raids hit its militants.
The Islamic State militant group that has seized large parts of Iraq and drawn the first American air strikes since the end of the occupation in 2011 has warned the United States it will attack Americans "in any place" if the raids hit its militants.
The video, which shows a photograph of an American who was beheaded during the US occupation of Iraq and victims of snipers, featured a statement that said in English: "We will drown all of you in blood."
US air strikes in northern Iraq have helped Kurdish fighters take back some territory captured by Islamic State militants, who have threatened to march on Baghdad. The latest advance by Islamic State sent tens of thousands of members of the Yazidi ethnic minority and Christians fleeing for their lives.
Unlike al-Qaeda, Islamic State has so far focused on seizing land in Iraq and Syria, not spectacular attacks on Western targets.
US President Barack Obama said at a news conference on Monday that Islamic State posed a threat to Iraq and the entire region.
Obama said that the recapture of the crucial Mosul dam by Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with the help of US air strikes, "demonstrates that Iraqi and Kurdish forces are capable of working together in taking the fight to ISIS [Islamic State]".