Islamic State threatens attacks in Russia in new video

Militant group claims it will take revenge ‘very soon’ for Russian bombing in Syria

An Islamic State member waves a flag in Raqqa, Syria. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

Islamic State has released a video threatening attacks in Russia "very soon" in revenge for Russian bombing in Syria, the SITE monitoring group said on Thursday.

The Kremlin said Russian state security services would study the material.

Al-Hayat Media Centre, the militant group’s foreign language media division, released a video in Russian containing chants of “soon, very soon, the blood will spill like an ocean”, SITE reported.

Islamic State has previously called for attacks on Russia and the US in revenge for strikes by their warplanes on its fighters in Syria.

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Plane crash

Western intelligence officials suspect the ultra-hardline Sunni group of planting a bomb in a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on October 31st, killing all 224 passengers and crew.

Islamic State militants fighting Egyptian security forces in Sinai said they brought down the plane, which was taking Russian tourists back home from the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

Russia's security agencies will look into a video, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

“I do not know the authenticity of this video, I do not know the authenticity of these sources, but in any case no doubt this will be material for review by our special [security] services,” Mr Peskov told journalists on a conference call.

Reuters