Terrorists from the Islamic State group have allegedly called for attacks at the upcoming Miss Universe competition set for January 2017 in the Philippines.
A string of threats recently posted to the messaging app Telegram have called for local jihadi proponents of the extremist group known as ISIS to carry out attacks at the beauty pageant, Fox News reported Monday.
Unverified reposts of the messages shared on the social media channel used by the jihadis in the Philippines called on “everyone who can” to launch attacks at the event.
The thread of posts encouraging violence at the global beauty competition also reportedly included a call to “create a bomb for miss universe.”
The threatening posts also offered an online video tutorial on how to assemble a suicide belt, along with a guide in English on how to produce explosive devices.
The 65th Miss Universe pageant is scheduled for January 30, 2017 at a yet to be determined venue in the Southeast Asian nation.
A #Filipino jihadi Telegram channel posted a video for making an explosive belt and suggested “Create bomb for miss universe” #MissUniverse
— SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) August 8, 2016
Filipino-German actress and model Pia Wurtzbach, who won the pageant in 2015 after a crowning mix-up, is expected to pass on the crown to her successor at the next contest.
Republican presidential nominee Donal Trump bought the entire stock of the Miss Universe Organization from US broadcast network NBC in 2015.
In January, Reuters reported that fighters from four terror organizations operating in the Philippines released a video in which they pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and announced the establishment of ISIS’ province in the Philippines.
