With the heightened security in the United States following the Paris attacks, the Islamic State (ISIS) appeared to have devised a different strategy in sowing terror, realising that sneaking in terrorists into the country, just like what it did in Paris, may not work in the U.S.
U.S. law enforcement officials now believe that the ISIS leadership could try to launch terror attacks using so-called "lone wolves" or sympathisers in the U.S., WND reported.
The officials based their assessment following their discovery of a previously little-noticed manual for "lone wolves" issued by ISIS.
The 63-page, English-language manual, titled "Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen," was allegedly authored by three former members of the intelligence service of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who are now working for ISIS.
The published manual gives lessons on how to make a "new hybrid war weapon" and how to plan terrorist operations—without the terrorists getting caught.
Middle East security expert Michael W.S. Ryan said the manual shows that the ISIS intends "to create a new hybrid war weapon in its arsenal against the United States, a hidden weapon designed to be difficult to trace operationally back to the jihadist organisation or to detect before an operation is executed."
"The Islamic State clearly wants their clandestine proxies to be able to survive to fight another day and, therefore, spend as much time designing an exit plan as they do designing the operation itself," said Ryan, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.
To avoid detection by U.S. law enforcers, the manual calls on "lone wolves" or local terror cells to maintain constant vigilance in disclosing information among themselves on a strictly need-to-know basis and varying daily routines.
The manual gives instructions on how to devise a cover story, maintain safe houses, maintain weapons security and safely transport them. It also tells how to perform surveillance of a target and detect surveillance by law enforcement, officials said.
The manual instructs covert ISIS agents to blend in with their surroundings and not to draw any attention to themselves.
It advises the operatives to recruit mostly family members or individuals who they can fully trust. It tells them not to keep weapons or incriminating documents in their homes.
The covert operatives are told to hide their Muslim identity by wearing a Christian cross and cutting off their beards. They are told to stay away from mosques and not carry prayer beads.
The manual goes into little details like advising the agents to ensure that there is no Quran app on their smart phones.
"Lone wolves" have launched terrorist attacks in the U.S. before. They include the Chechen Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. It would be recalled that the Tsarnaev brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan, who were naturalised U.S. citizens, set off two pressure cooker bombs on April 18, 2013, at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 264.
