A 30-year-old British Muslim Islamic State (ISIS) fighter has been allegedly using an encrypted messaging service Telegram to call on his supporters to launch bomb attacks in London.
Omar Hussain, a former supermarket worker from Buckinghamshire who had fled to Syria in 2013, has also posted bomb-making guidelines using the same service.
Hussain has called on his followers to carry out a nail bomb assault similar to the attack in St Petersburg which killed 15 people earlier this month, the Mirror reported.
He reportedly posted a picture of a finished explosive device with a caption that said: “Looks like creme brulee.”
Hussain had left his UK home to join the al Qaeda affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra before switching allegiance to the ISIS terror network.
In December last year, he had delivered a Christmas message urging followers to rob party-goers in order to get money for knives and bombs.
“At Christmas the kuffaar (non-Muslims) are loaded with money so it’s the best time. Wait around the corner from a pub for a drunk kafir (non-Muslim) to exit and go down an alleyway,” he wrote on a secure message service.
“Once in the alleyway it only takes a few punches for a drunk kafir to fall unconscious. Take a few ikhwa (brothers) and u can rob him. They could stab a kafir or slit his throat.
"I had friends in the UK who would do this in London and they never once got caught,” he wrote.
Hussain, who had completed a university course in IT in Britain, has now reportedly taught graphic design to students in the ISIS terror group in the war zone.
He first came in news when he appeared in an ISIS propaganda video, urging then prime minister David Cameron to send troops to fight the terror group, vowing “we’ll send them back one by one in coffins”.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)