IS urges supporters to launch 'lone wolf' attacks in UK

The Islamic State (IS) has reportedly urged its followers and sympathisers to conduct "lone wolf" attacks in the United Kingdom and has also posted tips online to launch Paris-style rampage in London.

The guidelines asked would-be attackers to blow themselves up rather than get caught by the police and to avoid having conversations on phone in order to prevent security services from eavesdropping on their calls, reported The Daily Express.

It asked followers to plant bombs in San Francisco and Belgium and gunmen to conduct shooting sprees in London, Madrid and Sydney by using silencers.

It also called for poison gas attacks at railway stations in Russia, Boston, Dallas and Amsterdam.

The message justified lone wolf attacks as an act of revenge for the military campaign initiated by the U.S.-led coalition in the Middle East.

Haras Rafiq, managing director of anti-radicalisation organisation the Quilliam Foundation, said that the message came from the Al-Khilafah Media Foundation, the media arm of IS and added that it must be taken with "utmost seriousness."

Rafiq added that there are about 600 British fighters among the ranks of the IS and about hundreds more supporters in this country.

The message was posted on Monday and taken down a few days later. It comes as the terror group is looking to bolster its operations in Syria and Iraq. Tweets in Arabic revealed that the group was offering millions of pounds and mansions to top Al Qaeda fighters to switch allegiance.