BAGHDAD: The Islamic State militant group urged its followers on Monday to attack citizens of the US, France and other countries which have joined a coalition to destroy it.

A spokesman for the IS, formerly called the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS), said according to the SITE monitoring website’s English transcript of an audio recording in Arabic that the intervention by the US-led coalition would be the “final campaign of the crusaders”.

“It will be broken and defeated, just as all your previous campaigns were broken and defeated,” Abu Muhammad al Adnani said.

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He urged his extremist group’s followers to attack US, French, Canadian, Australian and other countries’ nationals.

Mr Adnani mocked western leaders over their deepening military engagement in the region and said US President Barack Obama was repeating the mistakes of his predecessor George W. Bush. Addressing President Obama: the IS spokesman said: “You claimed today that America would not be drawn into a war on the ground. No, it will be drawn and dragged... to its death, grave and destruction.”

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2014