Pro-ISIS jihadists vow 'Christmas blood' in propaganda image showing a masked man driving towards St Peter's Basilica 

• Pro-ISIS Wafa Media Foundation circulated poster threatening Christmas attack 
• Image shows jihadi with a gun and backpack driving toward the Vatican 
• St Peter's Basilica can be seen through the front windscreen, while a masked face is depicted in the rear-view mirror 
• Last Christmas saw terrorist Anis Amri drive a truck into a Berlin festive market

ISIS has threatened to launch a Christmas terror attack on the Vatican in their latest terror propaganda. 

A poster circulated by the pro-ISIS Wafa Media Foundation shows a masked figure driving towards St Peter's Basilica with a gun and a backpack inside his car.

At the top of the poster is the message 'Christmas blood' with the line 'so wait...' written in red underneath.

The image first appeared on anonymous messaging app Telegram on Tuesday night, according to terror monitoring group MEMRI.

Such posters do not typically warn of a direct threat, but act as a call to action for lone wolf attackers who may be waiting to strike. 

Analysts have warned of a possible upsurge in ISIS attacks overseas following the collapse of their so-called Caliphate in the Middle East.

The terror group typically uses such attacks as a means of exerting fear and making their influence felt at a time when their power is diminishing.

Last month saw the effective end of their 'caliphate' with the captured of Raqqa and Dier Ezzor - the last two strongholds in Syria - following the capture of Mosul in Iraq.

On October 31 Sayfullo Saipov drove a rented truck down a bike path in New York, killing eight and leaving dozens more wounded.

Christmas has also proved a popular time for ISIS attacks in the past, with Anis Amri driving a truck into a Berlin festival market on December 15 last year.

In 2015 Rizwan Farook began his terror attack in San Barnardino, California, at a work Christmas party before going on a rampage with wife Tashfeen Malik, which ended with them both shot dead.