DJIA39760.08
LIVE477.75(1.22%)
NDX18280.84
LIVE70.31(0.39%)

IS Media Aims to Build Momentum Behind Newly Appointed Caliph


Wednesday, 6 November 2019 00:00 WIB

Global


The Islamic State terror group appears to be trying to show that momentum is building in support of its new leader, distributing photographs of fighters from various provinces and affiliates swearing allegiance.

Since Saturday, IS media officials have posted a series of photos showing fighters from five of the group's affiliates gathering to pledge bay'ah (allegiance) to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.

The first of the pledges came from IS-Sinai of IS distributing three photographs of about 25 masked fighters gathering in a sparsely wooded area in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, with guns raised.

That release was followed hours later by a series of photographs showing a group of about seven or eight masked fighters, allegedly from Bangladesh, pledging their loyalty.

IS media officials have since distributed more photographs, similarly showing masked gunmen from Yemen and Pakistan pledging allegiance.

The exception is IS-Sinai, the first of the terror group's affiliates to give bay'ah to Qurashi.

Western intelligence officials have long pointed to IS-Sinai as one of the terror group's most dangerous affiliates, suspected of planting a bomb aboard a Russian airliner in 2015, killing 244 people.

Unlike IS affiliates in Bangladesh, Yemen and Somalia, which each have an estimated few hundred followers, IS-Sinai is thought to have anywhere from 500 to 1,200 fighters in cells scattered across the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt's Nile Valley.

Still, U.S. officials believe IS-Sinai has been dependent on the core group in Syria and Iraq for some of its funding, which would give it a reason to quickly back the new leader.

Officials and analysts say it may be more telling if or when fighters with IS-Khorasan in Afghanistan or IS-West Africa, with an estimated 3,500 fighters, come forward to pledge their loyalty to Qurashi.

Source : VOA


RELATED NEWS

POPULAR NEWS

DISCLAIMER

Seluruh materi atau konten yang tersaji di dalam website ini hanya bersifat informatif saja, dan tidak dimaksudkan sebagai pegangan serta keputusan dalam investasi atau jenis transaksi lainnya. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas segala akibat yang timbul dari penyajian konten tersebut. Semua pihak yang mengunjungi website ini harus membaca Terms of Service (Syarat dan Ketentuan Layanan) terlebih dahulu dan dihimbau untuk melakukan analisis secara independen serta memperoleh saran dari para ahli dibidangnya.