WASHINGTON: The Twitter feed for the US military command that oversees operations in the Middle East was hacked on Monday by people claiming sympathy to the Islamic State militant group being targeted in American bombing raids.

US officials said that the US Central Command Twitter account and its YouTube account were suspended after being compromised.

Two US defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the hacking was an embarrassment but did not appear to be a security threat.

The White House said it was monitoring the extent of the hacking incident.

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad,” the Centcom Twitter feed said after being hacked.

The Twitter feed had several messages from hackers, including one telling American soldiers to “watch your back,” and the YouTube account had two videos that appeared to be linked to Islamic State.

The Twitter account published a list of generals and addresses associated with them, titled “Army General Officer Public Roster (by rank) 2 January 2014.”

A screen grab showing the Twitter feed of US Central Command after it was apparently hacked

Subsequent posts on the Centcom twitter account read, “Pentagon Networks Hacked! China Scenarios” and “Pentagon Networks Hacked. Korean Scenarios.”

A screen grab showing the Twitter feed of US Central Command after it was apparently hacked

The apparent infiltration came as President Barack Obama prepared to outline new proposals to protect the country's Internet systems from cybersecurity threats.