By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 4 December 2022
The World Cup in Qatar and “Personal Freedom” Make the Islamic State Very Angry
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Tag Archives: Syrian Democratic Forces
Islamic State Announces That Caliph Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi Is Dead
The Contents of Islamic State’s Weekly Newsletter ‘Al-Naba’ in August 2022
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 4 September 2022
Christian homes burned by the Islamic State in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo || Al-Naba 352, p. 5
Africa Dominates Two Months of Islamic State Propaganda
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 31 August 2022
Islamic State fighters from Wilayat Sinai in Egypt || Al-Naba 348, p. 5
The Islamic State is Taking Advantage of the Mess in Northern Syria
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 22 July 2022
The United States announced on 12 July that it had killed the Islamic State’s (ISIS) governor of Syria in a drone strike in the village of Galtan in the Jinderes district of the north-western Syrian province of Efrin on the border with Turkey. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) statement identified the slain man as “Maher al-Agal”, though a more precise transliteration is Maher al-Aqal (ماهر العقال). Riding on the motorcycle alongside Al-Aqal when he was killed was a “senior ISIS official” with whom he was “closely associated”. This ISIS official was “seriously injured during the strike”, CENTCOM notes, adding that the Jinderes strike caused no civilian casualties. Continue reading
Islamic State Appoints a New Leader and Spokesman
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 15 March 2022
Another Islamic State “Caliph” Falls
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 3 February 2022
The compound where Islamic State leader Amir Muhammad al-Mawla killed himself, 3 February 2021 || Image taken from social media
Islamic State Gives Its Version of the Syrian Prison Break
Islamic State and “Breaking the Walls”: Jihadist Prison Breaks
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 22 January 2022
Islamic State car bombing against Al-Sinaa prison in Syria, 20 January 2022 [image source]
The Trouble With “Ending Forever Wars”
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 12 August 2021
In early July, President Joe Biden confirmed his intention to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September 2021. Biden cited a February 2020 U.S. “agreement” with the Taliban that he had “inherited” from the Trump administration. In truth, President Donald Trump had made no agreement. He had already begun pulling troops out by October 2019 and signed a fig leaf to cover his unconditional withdrawal.
Biden reassessed other Trump policies and could have reassessed this one, not least since the Taliban were in violation even of their vague paper promises — most notably on their commitment to deny space to al Qaeda and negotiate peace in good faith. The truth is that Biden is ideologically committed, as Barack Obama and Trump were, to ending American involvement in “forever wars.” Regardless, this does not mean those wars end or the threats that drew the United States in actually go away. Continue reading
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