ISIS releases new poster depicting attack on Washington National Cathedral

The Islamic State has released a new propaganda poster depicting the Washington National Cathedral erupting in flames with an armed militant standing in front of the building.

The image was released on Thursday in a pro-ISIS encrypted channel on the social media application Telegram, and it was made public by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist organizations.

Although the poster depicts the Washington National Cathedral, the caption reads, "Wait for us, we meet at Christmas in New York...soon."

According to Newsweek, another poster disseminated through the same channel featured a terrorist taking aim at a crowd of concertgoers, with the caption, "See you soon on your holidays."

Chris Rodriguez, D.C.'s Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), said that the purpose of such posters was to cause fear among the people and make ISIS seem more relevant.

Experts have said that the threats of lone wolf attacks are serious, especially in the U.S. where ISIS does not have a strong base of support but relies on citizens and individuals to commit unsophisticated attacks.

Two such attacks were recently carried out in New York, with one being thwarted before anyone was seriously harmed. However, a truck attack by a jihadist in November had resulted in the deaths of eight people.

The State Department has warned that extremists are increasingly using "unsophisticated methods of attack," including the use of edged weapons, pistols and vehicles, and that the terrorists are increasingly focusing on "soft targets," such as places of worship, shopping malls, public transportation system and holiday events.

Rodriguez said that while the new propaganda poster is not deemed as a credible threat, law enforcement and the staff at the Washington National Cathedral are aware of it, adding that the authorities are already working to identify threats to the city around the clock.

"People are watching for threats. We take them very seriously and we are already at heightened state of security because it is the holiday season," Rodriguez said, as reported by Fox 5.

He further noted that threats from ISIS are often recycled over the holidays, especially now that the group has suffered major defeats.

"Around the world, ISIS is on the retreat, but there have been small attacks that happened most recently in New York, which was an ISIS-inspired attack. And so they are trying to play on those successes and trying to scare the public," he said.

Rodriguez, who is new to his job but has served in the CIA for over a decade, encouraged residents of the district to enjoy the holidays and assured them that there is a "dedicated workforce behind you looking at all these threats on a daily basis."