The so-called Takfiri group, Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) threatened to assassinate the Iraq-based Muslim religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani.

The so-called Takfiri group, Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) threatened to assassinate the Iraq-based Muslim religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani.

In a statement on Tuesday, the terrorist group said: “At present, the Shiite religious leader in Iraq is a person named Ali Sistani who is a remnant of Safavid generation. We warn all Shiites that Sistani should leave Iraq, otherwise, we will kill him.”

Security measures have intensified outside Sayyed Sistani’s home in Iraq’s Southern city of Najaf, the Persian-language Adyan news quoted one of the security officials in the city as saying.

"All people should be confident that the dirty hands of Wahhabists will never reach our Great religious leader,” the security official said.

Takfiri groups, including ISIL which operates also in neighboring Syria, frequently launch terrorist attacks against civilians and security forces in Iraq.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry has said that militants have launched an open war in Iraq and they want to push the Middle Eastern country into chaos.

Iraqi troops, backed by local tribesmen, are fighting Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants, including ISIL, in the country’s Western regions, including Anbar province.