Islamic State has hatched a diabolical new tactic to spread fear in the West by ordering homegrown jihadis to become Islamist serial killers.

The fanatical hate group is urging extremists in Europe and the US to carry out multiple random knife attacks to strike terror into the hearts of civilised societies.

In its latest poisonous propaganda offering the unhinged Islamist cult urges would-be jihadis to overcome their squeamishness and use knives instead of guns, because it is easier to carry out large numbers of murders undetected.

Jihadi chiefs argue that random stabbings are almost impossible for security services to detect and stop when compared to shootings and bombings, which require coordination and the purchasing of illegal equipment.

In an article for the terror group’s glossy Rumiyah propaganda magazine they even give advice on what types of knives to use, and suggest striking in secluded places after dark to avoid detection.

Islamist commanders suggest a “campaign of knife attacks” in which lone-wolf jihadis “could dispose of his weapon after each use, finding no difficulty in acquiring another one”.

They wrote: “Many people are often squeamish of the thought of plunging a sharp object into another person’s flesh.

“It is a discomfort caused by the untamed, inherent dislike for pain and death, especially after ‘modernization’ distanced males from partaking in the slaughtering of livestock for food and the striking of the enemy in war.

“However, any such squirms and discomforts are never an excuse for abandoning jihad.

“One need not be a military expert or a martial arts master, or even own a gun or rifle in order to carry out a massacre or to kill and injure several disbelievers and terrorize an entire nation.”

Hinting that the article is one in a forthcoming series about terror tactics, the author says that knives can help potential terrorists with the “ocean of thoughts” that “might pour into one’s mind” when considering an attack.

And they even advise would-be jihadis which blades to use, saying: ”It is explicitly advised not to use kitchen knives, as their basic structure is not designed to handle the kind of vigorous application used for assassinations and slaughter.

“Avoid troublesome knives, those that can cause harm to the user because of poor manufacturing,” they add.

A footnote in the article also betrays ISIS’ sensitivity about how their actions are reported in the West, insisting that supporters should not use the term “lone wolf” to describe radicalised Westerners.

Instead they order extremists to refer to such attacks as “just terror operations” – with just in this instance referring to the sense of justice the twisted barbarians see in them.

Rumiyah, meaning Rome, is ISIS’ latest propaganda tool and is significantly shorter than its main English language publication, the hate-filled magazine Dabiq.

It is published by the group’s Al-Hayat Media Center and is published in English, Turkish, German, French, Indonesian, Russian, Arabic and Uyghur.

The hate-filled magazine has been widely distributed in PDF format online, and has been released as ISIS commanders continue to grapple with the impending defeat of their so-called Caliphate in the Middle East.

Terror experts have warned that the jihadi group will increasingly turn to inspiring attacks overseas as it tries to cement its survival in the face of military annihilation.