A video has surfaced from the Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria advocating the systemic genocide of Shi'ite Muslims for allegedly "damaging Mohammed's legacy" in perpetrating their beliefs.
The video opens with a speech from a judge in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has been a focal point of territorial fighting between the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebel forces. The judge's job: to establish rule over the Syrian city through the implementation of Sharia, or Islamic religious law - including doling out execution orders.
Brandishing a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the judge turns to jihadi fighters in the Sinai Peninsula, urging them to resist calls from the Egyptian army to back down from fighting.
"Don't fear the Egyptian or Israeli armies, the judge declares" and calls for jihadi fighters to renounce their commanding officers and remind them that on the Islamic Day of Judgement, they will be held accountable for calling off the (global) Jihad pan-Islamist organizations like Al Qaeda support.
The Egyptian army has launched a wide-scale offensive against Al Qaeda linked groups in the region, as part of a larger struggle against Islamic terrorism. Al Qaeda operatives have responded with videos like these calling the Egyptians "enemies of Allah" and launching attacks of their own against Egyptian national forces.
The 17-minute video also showcases ISIS activity in Iraq, where two terrorists curse Shi'ites for "cursing the name of Mohammed."
Iraqi ISIS spokesmen emphasized that they dream of a battle against all those who dare to curse the first three caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman. While Sunni Muslims believe that these three caliphs inherited the succession of Islamic leadership from their prophet Mohammed, Shi'ites believe that Islam's founder designated his own successor, son-in-law Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
The video also shows direct evidence of the ISIS's involvement in recent Iraq truck bombings. One bombing incident, said to be directed against the Iraqi army's front in the Anbar province in western Iraq, shows a huge explosion and a flash fire visible from hundreds of meters away. Trucks are also shown loaded with Al Qaeda terrorists, armed with heavy machine guns and aiming at Iraqi soldiers in the region.
Iraq has been the axis of an ongoing barrage of attacks, including execution-style killings and suicide bombings. The number estimated dead from sectarian fighting now includes over 6,000 since the beginning of 2013.