ISIS has alleged a group of its “fighters” here in T&T was arrested on February 8 “while they were preparing a mega-attack during the night stretching from 13 to 14 February when the Carnival was in full swing.”
The claim was made in ISIS’ February Dabiq propaganda magazine, where the terror group claimed responsibility for the Carnival threat.
It featured a picture of T&T-born ISIS fighter Shane Crawford with the article. Crawford been ISIS’ poster boy on several articles pushing Caribbean and global recruitment.
It was, however, reported by the US and T&T authorities that he was killed in military strikes against ISIS last year.
The February Dabiq article stated, “In Trinidad and Tobago there is a strong minority presence of Indian Muslims who arrived during the British colonisation. Over time, Afro-Americans and Arabs have been added to the community.
“This magnificent Caribbean island has equipped Daesh with several hundred combatants. It is the first country to source jihadists in the Americas. Last year Shane Crawford, called Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, announced in the Dabiq that preparations for an operation were under way in T&T.”
It added: “In July 1990, a hundred jihadists of the Jamaat al Muslimeen had tried to take power in T&T. They had attacked the parliament and taken the prime minister as a hostage. Then they had used the offices of the national television to hide away for six days before turning themselves in.”
The magazine stated in May 2017, Thierry Meyssan had reported in”Russia Today” that Isis was preparing to destabilise the North-West of South America.