US Army Issues Troop Safety Instructions Following ISIS Threat: Urges Caution On Use Of Social Media

The threat of so-called Islamic State hacker's division to traget more than 100 U.S. military personnel, who were identifed from various social media sites, has got the U.S. Army acting on it by issuing a worldwide urgent “security awareness message” to soldiers, asking them to protect their social media accounts and exercise more caution at home to save themselves from possible attacks by terrorists. The advisory lists out a series of safety tips, including the need to check through the door peephole before letting in anyone in their homes.

Other steps in the guidance are fortifying doors, holding family meetings on security and toning down social media postings so that terrorists are not fed with personal connections or details of daily comings and goings. The security warning by the Defense Department is a clear indication that it has taken the Islamic State’s threat very seriously.

On March 23, the Islamic State hackers released the names and addresses of some 100 military personnel from social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and called up its followers to attack them. “It appears the list specifically targeted military members who are pilots or aircraft crew members in retaliation for airstrike in Iraq and Syria,” the Army message said.

The security message urged personnel “it is likely that social media will continue to be leveraged as a tool by those who wish to threaten or target members or the military. Therefore service members and their families are reminded and encouraged to practice safe social media activities.”

Main Precautions

The advisory lists out some of the important steps that the personnel have to follow. They include:

• Think before posting and assume everyone in the world will be seeing what is being posted or tweeted, even if the site limits posts to friends and family.

• Do not allow others to “tag” sites. Doing so it makes easier to locate and accurately construct network of friends.

• Be careful the images posted over time will form a complete mosaic of the concerned person and his family.

• Avoid providing detailed accounts of the day and restrict any references to military employment.

• Never arrange meetings with people they met online.

Taking Protection Money

Meanwhile, the Islamic State, now controlling the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are reportedly taking protection money from local residents. They are paying a tax of $80 per month towards protection money to the extremist group, according to a member of the provincial council. “The ISIS militants have forced families in Mosul to pay 100,000 dinar or $80 each month, claiming that their gunmen are protecting people so they must pay for the service,” Ibrahim Tati, member of Mosul provincial council, told Rudaw News.

Mosul is Iraq’s second largest city and it fell to ISIS in June 2014. Iraqi security forces are now mulling an operation to retake the city with air support from the U.S.-led coalition. The city has a population of more than one million. Tati also said ISIS militants in Mosul are forcing an extemist education system in the town by forcing teachers to teach the material they have designed, loaded with extremist ideology. He said the militants have opened "reformation" schools and are forcing families to send their children there.

Saeed Mamozini, a leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, spoke about the abuse of women in Mosul by ISIS militants. He said some women are being held captive by ISIS for “Jihad al-Nikah,” a form of sexual slavery by which women are forced to offer sexual comfort to their fighters.

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