Muslim leaders have called on Scots to be vigilant amid fears that ISIS recruiters are prowling the country.
The news comes after we revealed that an Islamic State recruiter dubbed “Mrs Terror” is feared to have slipped into Britain - and may be heading for Scotland with two young jihadis in tow.
Special Branch officers are on full alert at Scottish airports as they look out for Muslim convert Sally Jones, known as Umm Hussain.
Mazhar Khan of the Muslim Council of Scotland, blasted ISIS as a “vicious army of fanatics”. He said: “Muslims in Scotland are well aware of the threat posed by extremists and remain vigilant of any attempt by such people stir up hate and violence.
“Earlier this year, Muslim Council of Scotland ran a series a of workshops with imams and mosque leaders, which included the risks of radicalisation faced by young people, particularly from social media and other online activity.
“ISIS are a vicious army of fanatics who have no legitimacy in the eyes of Muslims across the world, having murdered scores of innocent people most of them Muslims.
“ISIS should never be associated with the good teachings of Islam, they may call themselves “Islamic state” but in truth they are neither Islamic nor a state.
“We advise everyone, including Muslims, to remain vigilant of any activity associated with this group in Scotland, anyone seen to be promoting hatred or any form of propaganda for ISIS should be reported immediately.
“As responsible Muslims it is our duty to keep our communities safe from any potential attack, we should recall the words of the Prophet Muhammad; ‘Such a person cannot be a believing Muslim, if the community does not feel safe from his or her evil’.”
International Development Minister Humza Yousaf used the negative Arabic term ‘Da’esh’ - which means to tread underfoot or crush - instead of ISIS.
The SNP MSP said: “Those who look to groom young children with false promises of glory by giving their lives to Da’esh are nothing but nefarious cowards.
“The Muslim community is resolute in working in solidarity with all the communities of Scotland to drive out any form of extremism from its midst. We all have an important job to do, from politicians to the press, not to sensationalise Da’esh or their supporters.
“Only by showing solidarity will we defeat the scourge of extremism.”
We revealed that police in Scotland have been warned that Jones - dubbed ‘Mrs Terror’ originally from Kent - has reportedly been seen in Birmingham with an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old.
The news comes as Pentagon officials believe ISIS used chemical weapons this week against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq.
One official said victims had “blisters” that matched the symptoms of other victims of mustard gas.
This is the first reported incident of ISIS using chemical weapons since the terror group came to prominence last year. ISIS may have obtained the mustard gas in Syria, whose Damascus government admitted to having large stockpiles of the chemical when it agreed to give up its chemical weapons arsenal two years ago.