Palestinian jihadist group claims credit for Arizona wildfire

A Palestinian jihadist group, Masada al Mujahideen, recently claimed credit for ongoing wildfires in Arizona in a statement posted to jihadist forums today. The statement, titled "Masada al-Mujahideen Fulfilled its Promise and Attacked America Again After the Expiration of the Period with Fires that Achieved Historic Results," was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. 

"We had previously announced an unconventional war against the occupation state of Israel, and then we escalated this war to reach its main supporter, America, so that it receives a major share of it, which will destroy their flora and fauna, with permission from Allah and then with our hands," the group said.The statement further said that the group targeted the United States "in order to make it clear and to make it know we can reach it when we warn it, and to make it certain that our hands don't just reach it but also strike it." 

The group warned that the attacks "will not be the last...if America does not respond to our demands." The statement boasted that 19 firefighters had been killed in the fires. 

Contrary to the claims of Masada al Mujahideen, authorities have said that they believe the fires were started as a result of lighting. 

Today's statement was not the first highly dubious claim by the jihadist group related to fires in the US. In January 2012, the group claimed credit for wildfires in Nevada. 

According to SITE, in addition to claiming responsibility for fires in the US, the jihadist group has claimed credit for more than a dozen fires in Israel since 2010.