Latest Articles and Blog Posts

Opposition to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: The Testimony of a Former Amni

May 21, 2019  •  aymennjawad.org

Last month's al-Furqan Media video in which Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first visual appearance since 2014 was partly designed to reassure IS supporters that their caliph was still alive and that he was still very much in control of the organization, being well aware of all developments pertaining to it.

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Fawj al-Nabi al-Akram: Interview

May 20, 2019 at 10:31 am

Previously I wrote a profile of the Local Defence Forces unit Fawj al-Nabi al-Akram, which has been deployed in the north Hama countryside amid the latest round of military operations in Syria's northwest.

On 10 May 2019, I interviewed Hassan Halak, who is a member of Fawj al-Nabi al-Akram. We discussed his own history, the Local Defence Forces and the operations in Syria's northwest. The interview is slightly edited and condensed for clarity. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.

Q: Can you tell me a little about yourself?

A: I am from Aleppo and I worked as a photographer. I was born in 1995.

Q: And you were studying in Damascus at the time of the beginning of the events?

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Islamic State Insurgent Tactics: Translation and Analysis (IV)

May 19, 2019 at 2:28 pm

For prior parts in this series, see:

Part I
Part II
Part III

This final article in the Islamic State's al-Naba' newsletter series on the insurgent tactic of temporarily taking control of areas deals with the issue of withdrawal. The article notes that circumstances can vary and unexpected obstacles may arise for a withdrawal plan during an expedition. However, some general guidelines are given.

- The organization of withdrawal may vary. For example, it could be that the groups that assault first should be the first to withdraw, or the groups that launch the deepest incursion into an area should be the first to withdraw.

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Islamic State Insurgent Tactics: Translation and Analysis (III)

May 19, 2019 at 10:50 am

For prior parts in this series, see:

Part I
Part II

This article in the al-Naba' newsletter on the Islamic State insurgent tactics of temporarily taking control of areas discusses the issue of implementation of the method. The article emphasizes that there is no single masterplan for such expeditions as circumstances vary according to place. However, the article offers general guidelines to the mujahideen on their conduct of these operations:

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The Operations in Northwest Syria: Interview

May 18, 2019

The northwest of Syria has recently seen military operations by the Syrian government with support from Russia. During those operations, Syrian government forces recaptured a number of localities in north Hama countryside from the rebels (e.g. Qal'at al-Mudiq). As of the time of writing, a ceasefire has reportedly come into effect on the Hama and Idlib countryside fronts.

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