A propaganda magazine of the Islamic State extremist group has praised gunman Man Haron Monis for taking 18 hostages in a Sydney cafe.

It’s also reissued a call for lone wolf attacks in Australia and taunted Western helplessness in the face of the threat.

Monis and two of his hostages, Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, were killed in the violent conclusion to the siege in the early hours of December 16.

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In the foreword to its sixth edition, the IS magazine Dabiq described Monis as a brother and said he was fighting in the path of Allah.

He did so “by acting alone and striking the kuffar (non-believers) where it would hurt them most – in their own lands and on the very streets that they presumptively walk in safety,” the magazine states.

“It didn’t take much; he got hold of a gun and stormed a cafe taking everyone inside hostage.

“Yet in doing so, he prompted mass panic, brought terror to the entire nation … The blessings in his efforts were apparent from the very outset.”

At the start of the siege, a black flag with Arabic writing was visible in a window of the Lindt cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place.
Dabiq declared this was “a testament to his sincerity”.

It said Monis joined other Muslims who answered a jihadist call “to strike those waging war against the Islamic State wherever they may be”.

In October, Dabiq published calls for lone wolf attacks across western nations, especially US, UK, France, Australia and Germany.

It repeated that statement in the latest edition.

“There will be others who follow the examples set by Man Haron Monis and Numan Haider in Australia,” it said.

Melbourne teenager Haider was shot dead after stabbing two police officers.

“All that the West will be able to do is to anxiously await the next round of slaughter and then issue the same tired, cliche statements in condemnation of it when it occurs.”

A week ago Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned there had been a heightened level of “terrorist chatter” in the aftermath of the Sydney siege tragedy.

However, Australia’s terror threat level hasn’t been lifted — remaining at high, which means an attack is likely.