New Islamic State Video Threatens End of the World, Attack on Pope
The Islamic State terror group has recently claimed that the "world will end" after it allegedly kills Pope Francis.
The terrorist group recently released a chilling video via its social media wing that shows Islamic State militants descending on Rome. The scenery of the video appears to imply that Rome is the site of the apocalypse, and the Islamic State militants suggest in the video that they must successfully defeat the pope and the Christian religion to claim victory for their fundamentalist beliefs.
This is not the first time the terrorist group has made reference to Rome, Italy as being the final battle ground for the end of the world.
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William McCants, an expert on jihad, previously told the Daily Express that extremist Muslims believe they will have successfully taken over the world when they defeat the pope in Rome.
"The Muslim armies are supposed to take over Rome, and eventually they are supposed to take over the whole world," McCants told the media outlet, adding "the group believes that Muslims will conquer the Italian capital in the course of conquering the entire world. There will be an ultimate victory for Islam and then the end of the world comes."
Pope Francis has previously dodged threats from the Islamic State. Upon the pope's arrival to the United States earlier this year, a teen affiliated with the Islamic State was reportedly arrested for plotting an attack on the pontiff.
"The minor was inspired by [ISIS] and sought to conduct a detailed homeland attack which included multiple attackers, firearms and multiple explosives, targeting a foreign dignitary at a high-profile event," the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement following the foiled plot.
A magazine circulated by the terrorist group also blasted the pope ahead of his U.S. visit in the fall as the "crusader pope" and an "apostate."
The pope has previously condemned the actions of the terrorist group, calling on international powers to do all they can to stop the spread of the militants.
"In these cases where there is unjust aggression, I can only say that it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor. I underscore the verb 'stop'; I don't say bomb, make war — stop him. The means by which he may be stopped should be evaluated. To stop the unjust aggressor is licit, but we nevertheless need to remember how many times, using this excuse of stopping an unjust aggressor, the powerful nations have dominated other peoples, made a real war of conquest. A single nation cannot judge how to stop this, how to stop an unjust aggressor. After the Second World War, there arose the idea of the United Nations. That is where we should discuss: 'Is there an unjust aggressor? It seems there is. How do we stop him?' But only that, nothing more," Francis told the Associated Press in a previous interview.
Following a rare meeting with the Pentagon regarding the Islamic State this week, U.S. President Barack Obama said during a press conference that the Islamic State group should consider its days of terrorizing numbered.
"As we squeeze its heart, we'll make it harder for ISIL to pump its terror and propaganda to the rest of the world," Obama said Monday from the Pentagon, adding "ISIL leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple: You are next."
