EU, US police cripple Islamic State media mouthpieces
Europol claims to have compromised the extremist group’s ‘capability to broadcast and publicise terrorist material’
EU and US police forces have crippled the main mouthpieces of Islamic State in a coordinated transatlantic takedown across several countries, the European police agency said on Friday.
“With this groundbreaking operation we have punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalise young people in Europe,” the head of Europol Rob Wainwright insisted.
The two-day operation on Wednesday and Thursday was the latest stage of a campaign first launched in 2015, and targeted in particular the Amaq news agency used by IS to broadcast claims of attacks and spread its extremist message.
“With this takedown action, targeting major IS-branded media outlets like Amaq, but also al-Bayan radio, Halumu and Nashir news, IS’s capability to broadcast and publicise terrorist material has been compromised,” Europol said in a statement.
The “simultaneous multinational takedown” was coordinated via Europol’s headquarters in The Hague with the support of Eurojust, the EU agency for judicial cooperation in criminal matters.