By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 13 June 2020
Ghanima (war spoils) captured by Islamic State in Sabha, Libya [Al-Naba 181, 9 May 2019]
Islamic State is Resurging in Libya
1 Reply
Category Archives: Jihadi Output
Islamic State Spokesman Vows Revenge Against Enemies, Plays the Israel Card
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 21 February 2020
The Islamic State’s (IS) spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Qurayshi, gave his second speech on 27 January 2020. The speech was entitled, “Allah Destroyed Everything Over Them, and for the Kafireen is Something Comparable”, by IS’s official English translation. The title is drawn from the Qur’an, the Surah of Muhammad (47), verse 10. The verse can be rendered as, “God Destroyed Them Completely, and a Similar Fate Awaits the Disbelievers”. Below is a copy of the transcript of Abu Hamza’s speech, with some editions for transliteration and translation, and some interesting sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading
Islamic State Bids Farewell to the Caliph
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 10 November 2019
The 207th edition of Al-Naba, the weekly newsletter of the Islamic State (IS), published on 7 November 2019, devotes its main editorial to Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), the first “Caliph” when the “Caliphate” was declared in June 2014, who was killed on 27 October 2019.
The First Speech of Islamic State Spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 7 November 2019
Taha Falaha (Abu Muhammad al-Adnani) [right] appearing in an Islamic State video alongside Tarkhan Batirashvili (Abu Umar al-Shishani, 3 June 2017, displaying a scene from 2014 when IS demolished the borders between Iraq and Syria. Falaha was killed in August 2016. It is common for IS to hold back pictures and footage of its leaders for time-spans that can reach over a decade.
Islamic State Appoints New Caliph and Spokesman
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 31 October 2019
Earlier today, the Islamic State (IS) released a speech through Al-Furqan Media by its new spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Qurayshi. The statement was brief, just under eight minutes, and entitled, “Whosoever Fulfils That Which He Has Promised God, On Him Will He Bestow A Great Reward” (drawn from Qur’anic verse, 48:10). Abu Hamza confirmed that IS’s caliph, Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), was dead, killed in the American raid in Idlib in the early hours of the morning [Syria time] on 27 October, and that his predecessor, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, was also deceased, killed in an airstrike the day after Al-Baghdadi’s demise. The new IS leader was announced as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi. IS released a transcript of the speech, which is reproduced below with some editions for transliteration and interesting sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading
Islamic State Profiles the Leadership
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 6 April 2019
Islamic State flag in front of the main gate of Saddam Husayn’s palace in Tikrit, 5 April 2015 // AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED SAWAF
A lengthy document—roughly sixty pages and 12,000 words—was published online on 21 February 2019 containing biographies of twenty-seven senior Islamic State (IS) officials, past and more recent. Those bios that are dated were written between October 2018 and the time of publication, with one exception that was written in the summer of 2018. The author claims to be an IS veteran. While longevity is difficult to prove, the fact that the author provides heretofore unseen images of some of the IS leaders suggests that at a minimum he is an IS operative. Continue reading
Islamic State Claims the Killing of a Canadian Citizen
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 30 March 2019
Al-Naba 175, page 8
Kirk Woodman, a Canadian geologist working for a Vancouver-based mining company, Progress Minerals Inc., was found dead in Oudalan province, north-east Burkina Faso, on 16 January 2019. Woodman had been kidnapped the previous day from a mining camp. Ouagadougou announced that Woodman had been killed the following day. Woodman’s body was described as “bullet-riddled”. It was noted by one outlet that Woodman had been taken in “a border region infiltrated by jihadis”, but not very much more has been said of the case in the last two months. On 28 March, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the murder in the 175th edition of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba. Continue reading
Jihadist Groups Capitalize on Far-Right Terrorism in New Zealand
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 29 March 2019
Al-Nur Mosque, Christchurch, New Zealand [image source]
Islamic State Spokesman Dismisses Coalition Claims of Victory
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 21 March 2019
The spokesman for the Islamic State (IS), Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, gave his a speech on 18 March 2019, entitled, “He Was True to Allah and Allah Was True to Him” (or “He Was Honest/Sincere Towards God, so God Fulfilled His Wish”). This is the sixth speech given by Abu Hassan since he was announced in December 2016 as the replacement for Taha Falaha (Abu Muhammad al-Adnani). Abu Hassan’s true identity remains mysterious. An English translation was released by IS and is reproduced below with some editions in transliteration. Continue reading
Islamic State Says It Rejected the Disbelievers Before They Rejected Them
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 17 March 2019
In the 173rd edition of Al-Naba, the Islamic State’s weekly newsletter, published on 14 March 2019, the main editorial was entitled, “We Have Rejected You” (Kafarna Bikum), a reference to Qur’an 60:4. A translation of the article is given below.
Continue reading
