Iman Chairman condemns San Bernadino terror attacks

Image Credit: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

'Islamic State Says 'Soldiers of Caliphate' Attacked in San Bernadino'

NEW YORK TIMES

The Islamic State’s radio station released a statement on Saturday claiming that two of the group’s followers had carried out the shootings that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday.

It was the first official claim of responsibility by the group after days of congratulatory messages posted on Twitter and a statement published on a news forum believed to be run by members of the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL.

In its English-language broadcast, the Islamic State’s Bayan radio station referred to the couple who carried out the attack as “soldiers of the caliphate,” a term denoting members of the terrorist group’s army.

The Islamic State group has used the same term to refer to gunmen who have carried out attacks in its name, including Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, who fired on a site hosting a Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition in Garland, Tex., in May.

A school security guard was wounded before a traffic police officer killed both gunmen.

A French gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, also referred to himself as a “soldier of the caliphate” in a video he recorded just before he attacked a kosher supermarket in a suburb of Paris in January.

In the broadcast about the California shootings, the Islamic State said, “Two soldiers of the khilafah executed an attack on the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on the 20th of Safar,” said a transcript provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist propaganda. Safar is the second month of the Islamic calendar.

“Light weapons were used which led to the deaths of 14 disbelievers,” the broadcast said.

But the Arabic-language broadcast differed from the group’s broadcast in English.

In the Arabic version, the assailants are referred to as “supporters” of the caliphate, a term denoting a less direct connection to the terrorist group.

It was unclear why the two versions differed.

Since the San Bernardino killings, law enforcement officials have confirmed that they are treating the episode as an act of terrorism.

Iman Chairman Ribal Al-Assad strongly condemns the shootings and said that they reflect the dangers of allowing Islamic radicalism to go unchecked.

“This brutal slaying is an appalling act of barbarism,” he said. “And at this time my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

“But these attacks should remind us of the unpleasant fact that as long as radical preachers are allowed to spread their message of hate, violence and murder, terrorist attacks will continue to occur.

“As the majority of Muslim clerics and leaders have pointed out, the actions of terrorists such as these does not reflect the teachings of true Islam.

“What these terrorists share is a poisonous and perverted ideology of violence and power.

"We must also remember that the Islamic State to which these two butchers pledged allegiance is only a brand name. There are many other groups that are just like it and share the same poisonous ideology. We therefore should not limit ourselves to tackling any particular brand name, such as Al-Qaeda or Islamic State, but rather go after the underlying ideology that justifies and encourages such twisted acts of murder.

"This means that we must commit fully and whole-heartedly to tackling this problem at its roots. In order to do so we must hold our so-called allies in the Middle East to account, who continue to fund, support and shelter those who incite sectarianism and violence."