LONDON—The ISIS terrorist group could be planning to attack London over Christmas, as revealed by a chilling image intercepted from a terrorist instant messaging chat.
In the image, a black-clad hooded figure is seen standing over a kneeling Santa Claus with an image of the Regent Street shopping area in the background.
A message reads “Soon on your holidays” in English, French, and German.
The implication is that Londoners should expect an attack from the terrorist group over the holiday season.
The image was intercepted by BlackOps Cyber, a darknet intelligence company, on Nov. 21 and given exclusively to The Epoch Times.
The company said it was the first time they had seen this particular image. It was posted at 12:27 p.m., UK time, according to a timestamp on a screengrab showing the chat feed.
The screengrab is from a chat group called Army of Mujahideen and shows that the image is seemingly designed by a user called Dr Almani.
BlackOps obtained the image on the heels of the recent arrests in Germany of six alleged ISIS plotters, who were believed to be planning an attack on a Christmas market.
The arrests follow terror-related bloodshed at around the same time last year.
In December 2016, an ISIS terrorist plowed a truck through Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz Christmas market, killing 12.
German security has been on high alert since the incident, with concrete blocks now installed in several central squares where Christmas markets will be held.