Cairo - A newly identified spokesman for
Islamic State urged sympathisers around the world to carry out a
fresh wave of attacks, singling out Turkish diplomatic, military
and financial interests as the Islamists' preferred targets.
Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer, whose role as the group's
mouthpiece was disclosed for the first time on Monday, also told
Islamic State fighters to stand their ground in the town of Tal
Afar, where they are threatened by Iraqi forces bearing down on
the city of Mosul, the group's last major Iraqi stronghold.
In a defiant online message, Muhajer described Islamic
State's military losses this year as setbacks and said an array
of forces in Iraq and Syria had failed to defeat the jihadists.
He said Islamic State supporters would target "the secular,
apostate Turkish government in every security, military,
economic and media establishment, including every embassy and
consulate, that represents it in all countries of the world."
"Destroy their vehicles, raid them ... in their shelters so
they can taste some of your misery and do not talk yourselves
into fleeing," Muhajer said in an audio recording posted online.
He called on supporters of Islamic State to "redouble your
efforts and step up your operations" around the world.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity
of the recording.
Islamic State identified Muhajer as its new media spokesman
in a recording posted on Al Furqan, a media outlet linked to the
group. It gave little information about Muhajer, an obscure
figure not widely known in the media or to experts.
The United States confirmed in September that Islamic
State's previous spokesman, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, had been
killed in a US air strike on August 30 in Syria.
Turkey appeared to have been chosen as a target because it
has backed rebels in Syria against Islamic State, threatening to
drive IS fighters from the town of al-Bab and backing rebels who
crossed into Syria and took the border town of Jarablus from the
jihadists. Most recently, Turkish warplanes destroyed 12 Islamic
State targets on Saturday.