Anonymous vows to take revenge on ISIS after ghastly Brussels attacks
In the wake of the Brussels terror attacks, activist hacker group, Anonymous is calling for people to stand up against discrimination as part of its fight against the Islamic State. Anonymous has launched a “total war” on ISIS, with a pledge to try and wipe it off the internet and take its money.
The so-called ‘Op Brussels’ was declared in a video and posted to YouTube following Tuesday’s bombings, an Anonymous member donned a Guy Fawkes mask to condemn the deadly attacks which were launched by a network tied to the ISIS. The bombings that targeted the city’s main airport and metro left 31 people dead and hundreds injured in Brussels on Tuesday.
While the group is best known for hacking its targets, this time Anonymous is also calling for compassion.
“You don’t have to hack them. If you stand up against discrimination in your country, you harm them much more than by hacking their websites,” the video said.
“The Islamic State cannot recruit Muslims in Europe if they are accepted and included in the society. So we want all of you to stand together against discrimination.”
“We do not forgive,” the video continued. “We do not forget. … Expect us.”
Further, the video also stated that the attacks will include attempting to keep ISIS accounts off social media sites and taking money from them. The group has vowed to keep “hacking their websites, shutting down their Twitter accounts and stealing their Bitcoins”.
The group claimed that it has already been successful in silencing Twitter accounts and other communication and propaganda tools online.
“We have silenced thousands of Twitter accounts directly linked to ISIS,” the speaker says in a video shot in the usual way of Anonymous, with a computer voice overlaid on an image of the famous mask. “We severely punish Daesh on the dark net, hacked their electronic portfolio and stolen money from the terrorists.
“We have laid siege to your propaganda websites, tested them with our cyber attacks, however we will not rest as long as terrorists continue their actions around the world.
“We will strike back against them… we will defend the rights of freedom and tolerance.”
Anonymous released a similar threat after the Paris attacks last November pledging to hunt down those responsible online and expose them. However, the group has sometimes been criticised for being overly enthusiastic about its methods, which tend to involve simply shutting down Twitter accounts.
