The Islamic State published the names and addresses of thousands of churches in the United States and called on its adherents to attack them during the holiday season, according to a message posted late-night Wednesday in the group’s “Secrets of Jihadis” social media group.

A user going by the name of “Abu Marya al-Iraqi” posted an Arabic-language message calling “for bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year” and announced the group’s plans to utilize its network of lone wolf attackers to “turn the Christian New Year into a bloody horror movie.”

The series of messages appeared in a pro-ISIS group on Telegram, which also provides manuals for the use and preparations of weapons and explosives for aspiring assailants. The information, distributed in a number of posts, was all previously available online and includes a public directory of churches across all 50 states. (Vocativ does not publish specific information found in lists like these.)

In another group post, a member summoned “the sons of Islam” to target “churches, well-known hotels, crowded coffee shops, streets, markets and public places,” and shared a list of addresses in the United States, as well as in Canada, France and the Netherlands.

ISIS claimed responsibility for this week’s Christmas market attack in Berlin that killed 12 and injured 48. The group said that the assailant was a “soldier of the Islamic State,” who followed organizational orders “to target coalition countries.” The suspect was identified as Anis Amri, a Tunisian man in his 20s who reportedly had Salafi and jihadi connections in Tunisia and Germany. He is still the object of a massive manhunt in Germany.

The Islamic State has published such lists before — in June, Vocativ reported on a “kill list” that included more than 8,000 names and addresses, including that of police officers in the United States. The June list resulted in no known attacks.

Islamic State warned Tuesday it will increase terrorist attacks against Christians in the coming weeks.

ISIS vowed to escalate its “war on polytheism.” Polytheism is generally considered to be a reference to Christianity in Egypt. The terrorist group issued the warning Tuesday after claiming a deadly terrorist attack on Coptic Christians in Cairo, Egypt, which left 25 dead Sunday.

“Let all the disbelievers and apostates in Egypt and everywhere know that our war on polytheism is ongoing, and that the State of the Caliphate – with permission from Allah the Almighty – will continue to spill their blood and grill their bodies, so that there is no sedition and the religion is all for Allah,” said ISIS in a statement, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

ISIS purposefully targeted Christian communities in Iraq and Syria during its initial rise in 2014, and continues to massacre them to this day. Many of Iraq’s ancient Christian communities, particularly in the Ninevah Plains region, are now destroyed. Some of them, like the Assyrian and Chaldean sects, date back to the earliest days of Christianity.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/16/isis-threatens-attacks-on-christians-as-christmas-approaches/#ixzz4TbFj8bVf

Egypt maintains a large Coptic Christian community, though it was largely left unscathed by terrorist attacks until the Sunday morning attack which targeted worshipers in St. Peter’s church in Cairo. The church is located beside St. Mark’s Cathedral, which serves as the seat of the Coptic church and home to its leader, Pope Tawadros II.

ISIS established a province in Egypt’s Sinai region, just south of Israel, in November 2014. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi ordered military operations against the group shortly thereafter.

The U.S. Department of State and British government warned in late November that there was an increased risk of terrorist attacks in Europe during the Christmas season. European holiday markets are a popular tourist destination, making them a potential target for ISIS and other terrorist organizations.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/16/isis-threatens-attacks-on-christians-as-christmas-approaches/#ixzz4TbFwWYaL