Anonymous Plans To Hunt Down ISIS Over Paris Attack, Calls Group ‘Daesh’
Hacktivist group Anonymous made an announcement on Saturday, officially “declaring war” against terrorist group ISIS.
The announcement was posted on YouTube in relation to the terrorist attacks on Friday that took place across multiple locations in France, killing 129 people and leaving 415 more injured, hundreds of whom are reported to be in critical condition.
Wearing the group’s signature Guy Fawkes mask, the spokesperson said that the French people will only become stronger after the attacks on their country.
Anonymous Issues Warning To ISIS Over Paris Attack
“Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down,” the spokesperson said. “You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go. We will launch the biggest operation ever against you.”
The spokesperson also said in the video that ISIS should expect a massive cyber attack.
In a separate tweet by @GroupAnon, they referred to the terrorist group as “Daesh,” which is short for the Arabic phrase al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
Make no mistake: #Anonymous is at war with #Daesh. We won’t stop opposing #IslamicState. We’re also better hackers. #OpISIS
— Anonymous (@GroupAnon) November 15, 2015
However, the terrorists are reportedly against the use of the word because it is similar to the Arabic words “Daes,” which means “one who crushes something underfoot,” and “Dahes,” which means “one who sows discord.”
During a speech following the terrorist attacks, President Francois Hollande also used the term Daesh when referring to ISIS.
He said that the events were “waged by a terrorist army, a jihadist army, by Daesh, against France.”
French President François Hollande Declares National State Of Emergency Following Paris Terrorist Attacks
In addition, the French government has launched an all-out campaign against terrorism. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday that they have already conducted more than 150 raids in the country, and even dropped bombs on “suspected ISIS encampments in Syria.”
On the other hand, the hacking collective may have other things in mind.
According to Ben FitzGerald, a cybersecurity expert technology director for the national security program at the Center for a New American Security, Anonymous has its “own set of values.”
He said that Anonymous does not care whether its values are against the CIA or ISIS. It will push through with whatever it believes is right. The group especially favors individuals and minorities, whom they believe have been wronged by others.
This is not the first time that Anonymous has publicly waged war against the terrorist group.
The hacktivist group also made the same threats after the Charlie Hebdo attack in January this year.
Anonymous Vowed To Avenge Journalist Charlie Hebdo
On Friday, terrorists targeted seven highly crowded locations across France such as cafes, restaurants, including the Stade de France, where a friendly football match between French and German teams was taking place.
Fortunately, the stadium security didn’t allow the suicide bomber to enter the building. The terrorist reportedly detonated the bomb he was carrying outside of the stadium.
Meanwhile, the concertgoers at the Bataclan concert hall were not as lucky as several gunmen opened fire at the crowd while American rock band Eagles of Death Metal performed onstage.
Terrifying video of Bataclan firefight caught on video https://t.co/tRPvMtSuwu
— TIME.com (@TIME) November 17, 2015
Eighty-nine people were killed at Bataclan alone.
In the “declaration of war” by Anonymous, they also said that they will track down the members of the terrorist group responsible for the attacks.
Named #OpISIS and #OpParis, the campaign will shut down websites and social media accounts that aim to lure in sympathizers and supporters of the terrorist group’s cause.
Anonymous announced on Monday that one of the companies that keep ISIS online is Cloudflare, a U.S.-based content delivery provider. The company provides services to websites in order to resist online attacks.
In addition, this is the second time that Anonymous pointed out the company as a supporter of the international terrorist group.
Cloudflare has not yet commented on the accusation.
[Image via YouTube]
