ISIS has released a new propaganda video showing its fighters stamping on busts of Jesus, ripping pictures of the Pope in half and promising to come to Rome. Filmed mostly in the Philippines - where the jihadist group has been fighting a battle with the government for control of the city of Marawi - the latest 'Inside the Khilafah' video focuses on conflict between Christianity and Islam. The narrator, speaking with an American accent, praises 'the truthful soldiers of Mohammed' who have fought to conquer territory in East Asia while ISIS members are shown wrecking a church.
One of the criminals - named 'Abu Jindal' - looks straight at the camera and says in English: 'Remember this, you kuffar [an extremely offensive term for non-Muslims] - we will be in Rome, we will be in Rome, inshallah [god willing]'.
Meanwhile, decorations in the church - including a statue of Jesus on the cross and one of Mary - are torn down and destroyed. Pictures of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis are also shown being torn up and thrown to the ground. The church is last seen in flames, with the narrator explaining: 'After all their efforts, it would be the religion of the cross that would be broken.'
He adds: 'The crusaders' enmity toward the Muslims only served to embolden a generation of youth.'
The obsession with Rome dates back to the birth of Islam, when Arab soldiers attempted to conquer the Byzantine (or Roman) Empire in what is today the Levant and Turkey during a long and bloody war.
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