Islamic State terrorists are calling for "lone wolf" attacks in Miami, Houston and other cities affected by recent hurricanes via social media, according to news reports Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security outlined the warning Thursday in an unclassified "situation awareness" document that was obtained by CNBC.
The document is from the DHS Southeast Florida Fusion Center, which is the agency's Miami-Dade Police Department's Homeland Security Bureau.
The caution was sent to law enforcement and "homeland security communities," CNBC reports.
"Officers should continue to maintain situational awareness of their surroundings," the document states.
"On Sept. 11, there was a twitter posting that appears to be authored by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that threatens Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Las Vegas," according to the document.
In addition, there were "a lot of opportunities for the soldiers of Islamic state to target," the document said. "The question is when?"
The DHS document cites a Sept. 6 Newsweek article that details another ISIS post calling for attacks on Houston relief centers.
The post quoted by Newsweek states: "To all the (lone mujahids) in the U.S. (warrior), pop down to Houston and drop in at any of the relief centers housing displaced people from the Houston floods, make sure to bring lots of supplies/gadgets/toys to see if you can help put any (unbeliever) out of their misery."
The DHS document also states, according to CNBC: "Another Jihadist, in Arabic writing said, 'A historic hurricane will hit Florida, especially the city of Miami soon' One that would leave an 'international tragedy' on American soil. He quotes Allah saying that a 'roaring wind in the days of the snakes' had been sent and makes use of a hurricane emoji."
The DHS information also quotes a terrorism expert saying that "these posts appear to be more aspirational than operational, with hopes that their followers would then act on calls for attacks.
"Incidents involving lone-wolf attackers have demonstrated the potential danger, lethality and effectiveness of a rehearsed small arms or knife attack that can be carried out by a single individual with little or no training.
"It also underscores the potentially higher consequences of an assault attack involving multiple operatives," the analyst said in the DHS report.
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