ISIS advises members to disguise selves as Christians in carrying out terror attacks

An ISIS militant leader who identifies himself as Abu Salman speaks to fellow militants at an undisclosed location, in this still image taken from undated video distributed by the ISIS on Nov. 14, 2015. Reuters

The Islamic State (ISIS) is now calling on its followers worldwide to disguise themselves as Christians to be able to launch mass casualty terrorist attacks on soft targets.

According to The Express, a newly discovered 58-page terror manual published by the ISIS, called "Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen," advises its militants to make themselves appear like Christians in launching terrorist attacks abroad.

For one, the booklet advises ISIS militants to use the sacred Christian symbol: the cross.

"It is permissible for you to wear a necklace showing a Christian cross. As you know, Christians—or even atheist Westerners with Christian background—wear crosses on their necklaces," the ISIS book states, as quoted by The Express.

ISIS members are also told to shave their beards and not to wear Muslim garments to attract less attention.

"If you can avoid having a beard, wearing qamis, using miswak and having a booklet of dhikr with you, it's better," the terror manual says.

"Your beard should be shaved off at least two weeks before you travel so the skin under your beard can be exposed to the sun. If you don't do that the fact that you removed your beard would be too easy to notice," it adds.

The ISIS paper likewise urges its members to minimise the use of Muslim expressions and greetings.

"No need to be using too much of the usual sentences that religious brothers use, like 'salam alaykum', 'barakallah feek' or 'jazakallah khayr' and so on," it says.

The guidelines provided by the booklet also tackle the littlest details such as wearing watches, rings and perfumes, so as not to appear to be Muslims.

"If you want to use perfume, don't use the oily, non-alcoholic perfume that Muslims use, instead use generic alcoholic perfume as everyone does, and if you are a man, use perfume for men," the document states.

"If you are wearing a watch, don't wear it on your right hand, as this is a sign that you are religious. If you have an engagement ring or something like that, it's better to wear one in gold or better yet, don't wear any ring at all," it further says.

The booklet even gives ISIS members tips on where to plan terrorist attacks.

"A nightclub, because of the loud music, the drunk people and the crowd, could actually be a good location to secretly discuss the details of an operation," the paper says.

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