Latest Articles and Blog Posts

The Sri Lanka Attacks and Islamic State Logic: A Look at al-Naba'

April 25, 2019 at 6:49 pm

What was the logic behind the attacks carried out by Islamic State supporters/operatives in Sri Lanka, killing hundreds of native Christians in their churches as well as foreign tourists in hotels? The question is relevant in light of some pundits portraying the attacks as driven by the logic of retaliation for the New Zealand massacre that killed dozens of Muslims. This line of argument has also arisen on account of comments made by a Sri Lankan government official.

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The Internal Structure of Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed: Analysis

April 25, 2019  •  The Islamic State Archives

The latest documents in the archives concern the internal structure of the Islamic State's southern Syrian affiliate Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed ("The Army of Khalid bin al-Waleed"- JKBW) as it existed in spring 2018. As noted previously, in its final weeks of existence in the summer of 2018, JKBW was presented in Islamic State propaganda as Wilayat Hawran ("Hawran province").

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The Haydari Force in Syria: A Story from 2013

April 23, 2019 at 4:54 am

In my previous post on the life of Karar Abd al-Amir al-Shahmani, I mentioned a formation by the name of 'The Haydari Force' that existed in the period of 2012-2013. Within this formation developed Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq's Syria contingent called Liwa Kafeel Zainab. For further reference on the matter of the Haydari Force, I have translated an account of some battles from 2013. The account is attributed to al-Hajj Jawad al-Talaibawi (a key Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq commander involved in the Syria mobilization) and explicitly mentions the Haydari Force of which Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq's contingent was a part.

Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets and endnotes are my own.

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The Life of Karar Abd al-Amir al-Shahmani: An Early Iraqi 'Martyr' in Syria

April 17, 2019 at 7:38 am

To understand better the history of the involvement of Iraqi fighters in the Syrian civil war, it is useful to consider the earliest publicised 'martyrdom' cases. One of those early 'martyrs' was an individual called Karar Abd al-Amir al-Shahmani (Abu Asad), whose life is the focus of this post. For the information in this post, I have relied in good part on the testimony of a friend of Karar who runs a page dedicated to him.

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The ISIS Hunters

April 14, 2019 at 1:08 pm

During the Syrian civil war, a number of units have arisen that receive some kind of Russian backing. One of these units is the ISIS Hunters (Sa'idu Da'esh), about which little concrete information exists. Here, I will provide a brief overview of the ISIS Hunters, drawing in part on the testimony of someone I know in the formation.

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