By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on February 11, 2017
On 28 September 2008, the emir of the Islamic State’s predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Hamid al-Zawi (Abu Umar al-Baghdadi), released an audio statement, his twelfth such, entitled, “The Promise Of God”. An English version of al-Zawi’s speech was released by the Islamic State and is reproduced below with some interesting sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 28, 2017
A joint American-Iraqi raid killed Ahmad al-Ubaydi (Abu Suhayb), the Islamic State of Iraq’s Northern Commander, on 19 April 2010, a follow-up raid after ISI’s emirs had been killed the day before. Al-Ubaydi’s death, and the many other ISI leaders picked off before and after him, seemed at the time to presage ISI’s downfall. Instead, ISI was just about to become more powerful than ever. Continue reading
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 28, 2017
Mohamed Moumou (Abu Qaswara)
Mohamed Moumou, better-known as Abu Qaswara, was the Commander of the North for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), one of the most powerful military positions in the group, when he was killed by American forces in Mosul on 5 October 2008. Continue reading