Islamic State threatens New York in new video

Islamic State has threatened to bomb New York City in a newly released video, just days after vowing to attack Washington, DC.

The slick clip features shots of yellow taxis and crowds in Times Square and Herald Square in Manhattan, with vibrant French music playing in the background -- a nod to the Paris terror attacks on Friday.

It then cuts to a man wrapping a bomb around his waist before walking into the crowds and pulling the trigger.

New York police have issued a statement to say they are aware of the footage. 

Stephen Davis, deputy New York police department commissioner, said in a statement on Wednesday, “We are continuing to deploy additional Critical Response Command teams throughout the city, out of an abundance of caution,” adding, “While some of the video footage is not new, the video reaffirms the message that New York city remains a top terrorist target.”

The video, which runs for nearly six minutes, includes a scene that appears to show a suicide bomber making preparations and zipping up a leather jacket.

The clip shows a brief glimpse of Times Square and then of a suicide bomber holding what appears to be a trigger, it said. 

Most of the footage is scenes of Paris and of French President Francois Hollande.

The latest threat comes just two days after the terrorist group made a direct threat to strike Washington, DC 

In a video posted on Monday, an armed fighter addresses the camera to say in Arabic: “We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the centre of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its centre in Washington.”

IS has already claimed responsibility for the coordinated terror attacks in Paris which killed at least 132 people. 

Image: Armed New York City policemen stand guard in Times Square in the Manhattan borough in New York. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Reuters