ISIS Say Only a Matter of Time Before Europe Is Conquered; Plan 'Largest Religious Cleansing Campaign' in History
A spokesman for ISIS has claimed in an interview that it's only a matter of time before the jihadists expand and conquer Europe. He also defended the terror group's practices of mass enslavement and beheadings, and said that it plans to carry out "the largest religious cleansing campaign" in history, which will include the killing of hundreds of millions of people.
"No, we will conquer Europe one day. It is not a question of if we will conquer Europe, just a matter of when that will happen. But it is certain. ... For us, there is no such thing as borders. There are only front lines," the spokesman, identified only as a German ISIS fighter, told journalist Juergen Todenhoefer in an article for CNN.
"Our expansion will be perpetual. ... And the Europeans need to know that when we come, it will not be in a nice way. It will be with our weapons. And those who do not convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax will be killed."
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ISIS, or the Islamic State as the group is also known, has captured a number of cities across Iraq and Syria, and has become known for beheading prisoners on camera and enslaving religious minorities, including Christians.
The terror group's mission is to establish an Islamic caliphate across the Middle East region, and eventually the world.
"I think the Islamic State is a lot more dangerous than Western leaders realize," the jihadist said. "They believe in what they are fighting for and are preparing the largest religious cleansing campaign the world has ever seen."
Todenhoefer visited the Iraqi city of Mosul, which used to host a large Christian community, before it was taken over by ISIS in June. The jihadists have since imposed Islamic law on the land, forcing people to convert to Islam, pay a tax, or face death.
When asked about Shiite Muslims who don't share the same beliefs as ISIS, the spokesman said that anyone who refuses to convert will be killed.
"150 million, 200 million or 500 million, it does not matter to us," the jihadist said. "We will kill them all."
He also argued that slavery is a sign of "progress," and claimed that the practice also exists among Christians and Jews.
"I would say that slavery is a great help to us and we will continue to have slavery and beheadings, it is part of our religion ... many slaves have converted to Islam and have then been freed."
The ISIS spokesman blamed the beheading of several Western journalists and aid workers, including American James Foley, on the U.S. government.
"[Foley] did not get killed because we started the battle. He got killed because of the ignorance of his government that did not give him any help."
Earlier in December, an ISIS senior leader said in another revealing interview that the terror group was born at the American Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq 10 years ago.
The official, who chose to identify himself by the name of Abu Ahmed, noted that Bucca, established after the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, provided an "extraordinary opportunity" for the growing number of jihadists imprisoned there.
"We could never have all got together like this in Baghdad, or anywhere else," Ahmed said. "It would have been impossibly dangerous. Here, we were not only safe, but we were only a few hundred metres away from the entire al-Qaeda leadership."
