Days after Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine, Islamist terror outfit ISIS has expressed hope that the ongoing conflict destroys ‘the enemies of Islam’ for their disbelief in Almighty ‘Allah’.
In a newsletter published by its weekly newspaper Al-Naba, ISIS has labelled the geopolitical situation as ‘divine punishment against the West.’ “What is happening today, the direct bloody war between the Orthodox crusaders – Russia and Ukraine – is but one example of God’s punishment for them, as described in the Qu’ran,” the newsletter read.
It further stated, “Whether long or short, this Russian-Ukrainian war is but the beginning of the next wars between the Crusader countries, and the images of destruction and death we see are but a small scene of the situation in which the great wars begin.”
“The crusader versus crusader is still in its infancy, so, O God, perpetuate their wars and break their hearts,” the Islamist terror outfit said. ISIS has claimed that there will be major consequences of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The terror group claimed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is ‘not surprising’ and a consequence of American policy of ‘support and containment’. ISIS has alleged that the conflict is the result of a fierce competition between Russia and the United States to control countries in Eastern Europe.
Interestingly, both Russia and Ukraine had fought the Islamic State during the Syrian civil war. Russia had sided with the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and fought ISIS while Ukraine was a part of a global coalition that defeated the terror outfit in Syria.
As such, ISIS has called upon Muslims to not take sides and instead hope for complete destruction of both countries. Although Russia had drafted Chechen Muslim forces for its invasion of Ukraine, the Islamist terror group has branded them as ‘apostate militias’.
Russia-Ukraine conflict
On February 24, Russia had announced military action against Ukraine. Since then, several western companies have halted their operations in Russia. In addition, SWIFT, the system that helps banks worldwide to smoothly run financial transactions, had excluded Russia from the system. The US and other countries have also imposed several sanctions on Russia over the military action.
