US intelligence channels earlier this year
identified a website calling on Muslims in
The website, posted by a group
called the Al-Ikhlas Islamic Network, argues in
Arabic that lighting fires is an effective form of terrorism justified in
Islamic law under the "eye for an eye" doctrine.
The posting - which instructs jihadis to remember
"forest jihad" in summer months - says fires cause
economic damage and pollution, tie up security agencies and can take months to
extinguish so that "this terror will haunt them for an extended period of
time".
"Imagine if, after all the
losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organisation were to claim responsibility for the forest
fires," the website says. "You can hardly begin to imagine the level
of fear that would take hold of people in the
With the nation heading into
another hot, dry summer, Australian intelligence agencies are treating the
possibility that bushfires could be used as a weapon of terrorism as a serious
concern.
Attorney-General Robert
McClelland said the Federal Government remained "vigilant against such
threats", warning that anyone caught lighting a fire as a weapon of terror
would feel the wrath of anti-terror laws.
"Any information that
suggests a threat to
Adam Dolnik,
director of research at the
"With attacks like
bushfires, yes, it would be easy. It would be very damaging and we do see a
decreasing sophistication as a part of terrorist attacks," Dr Dolnik said.
"In recent years, there have
been quite a few attacks averted and it has become more and more difficult for
groups to do something effective."
Dr Dolnik
said he had observed an increase in traffic on jihadi
websites calling for a simplification of terrorist attacks because the more
complex operations had been failing. But starting bushfires was still often
regarded as less effective than other operations because governments could
easily deny terrorism as the cause.
The internet posting by the little-known group claimed the idea of forest fires had been attributed to imprisoned Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab Al-Suri. It said Al-Suri had urged terrorists to use sulphuric acid and petrol to start forest fires.