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Donald Trump featured in propaganda video praising Isis Brussels attacks and calling for more massacres in Europe

Analysts said the group's supporters use alarmist statements as a sign of 'victory'

Lizzie Dearden
Friday 25 March 2016 10:30 GMT
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Donald Trump's photo was shown in flames in the recruitment video
Donald Trump's photo was shown in flames in the recruitment video

Donald Trump has been featured in a propaganda video praising the Brussels attacks and calling for more massacres in Europe.

The nine-minute long film, released by the Isis-linked al-Battar Media Foundation, shows the Presidential candidate’s photo in flames while playing an interview from the aftermath of Tuesday’s bombings.

“Brussels was one of the great cities, one of the most beautiful cities of the world 20 years ago, and safe,” he is heard saying. “And now it’s a horror show, an absolute horror show.”

Brussels attacks: suspects still at large

Analysts said the clip was part of a routine strategy to used alarmist statements by politicians and news anchors as a “trophy to declare victory”.

The video used footage taken at Brussels Airport and Maalbeek Metro station after the suicide blasts that killed at least 31 people, as well as clip of supposed battles by Isis fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Entitled “The Exile of Islam and Brussels Attacks”, the film is overlaid with religious songs (nasheeds) in Arabic and French, subtitled in English.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’ go for jihad!” one urges, before a voice calls on followers to “sacrifice your souls…in blessed forays into Crusader Europe.”

Like most Islamist propaganda, it attempts to present terror attacks as part of a holy war between Christianity and Islam, bizarrely using lengthy clips from the historical Hollywood film Kingdom of Heaven to illustrate the “crusade”.

It also shows images of two of the dead Paris attackers, believed to be Brahim Abdeslam and Chakib Akrouh, with the message: “May Allah accept them.”

In repeated efforts to incite more attacks, the video shows the aftermath of air strikes and claims that the Brussels attacks were revenge for civilian deaths.

“The crusaders aircrafts, including Belgium’s, continue to bomb Muslims in Iraq and the Levant in the night and day,” the narrator said.

“Every Muslim who is well aware of the history of Islam, knows that the holy war against infidels is an integral part of Islam, and those who read history would know.”

A previous statement released by Isis claimed Belgium was targeted as “a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State”, although it only carried out a limited bombing campaign confined to Iraq before stopping its air strikes in June 2015.

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