An article in this week's issue of al-Naba' provides some insight into a specific example of the damage the Islamic State wishes to inflict against enemy property and wealth its fighters cannot seize and use for themselves: namely, setting farms on fire. With much glee, the article provides an overview of recent cases of the Islamic State's burning of farms in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, the Islamic State has deployed arson against agricultural properties in Diyala, Salah al-Din, Kirkuk and Ninawa provinces. In Syria, the Islamic State has used this tactic in south Hasakah province (al-Baraka region in the Islamic State's own designation).
I have translated the article in full below, along with some explanatory notes of my own.
Roll up your sleeves and begin the harvest: God bless your harvest
Soldiers of the Caliphate burn the farms of the apostates in Iraq and al-Sham
Exclusive
It seems that it will be a hot summer, which will burn the pockets of the Rafidites and apostates in addition to burning their hearts and minds so long as they have been burning the Muslims, their abode and homes over the course of the past years.
That does not mean diminishing the value of harvesting heads and cracking heads as the soldiers of the Caliphate continue to do day after day, which has made a number of villages virtually falling into the hands of the mujahideen. Rather it is a harvest of another type.
The fire that is still at the beginning of its outbreak has consumed hundreds of agricultural hectares that are abundant with their crops during the past few days, so what will the situation be like if the soldiers of the Caliphate are active and intensify their good efforts during the coming days?!
These blessed deeds have led the apostate Rafidite[i] government and its security apparatuses to announce a state of mobilization, and strive to establish an operations room to resolve the situation before it is too late.
The fires in a few days have engulfed wide fields of the agricultural lands in Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninawa and Salah al-Din, and the fire has consumed hundreds of hectares of them.
For on Thursday 11 Ramadan, the soldiers of the Caliphate in Diyala- by the grace of God alone- kindled fire on a number of the agricultural lands that belong to the idolatrous Rafidites in the villages of Mubarak and Yusuf Bik north of Khanaqin and the agricultural lands extending between the two villages, and praise and thanks be to God.
In addition they burnt the farm of one of the apostates of the Rafidite Hashd affiliated with the Rafidite Asa'ib Ahl al-Batil[ii] in the village of Abu Khamees south of Buhriz in Diyala.
And they burnt the farms of the idolatrous Rafidites in the village of Abu Aakula south of the region of Kan'an, and praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds.
And they burnt dozens of agricultural land holdings of the Rafidites and apostates in Jazirat Tikrit and Jazirat al-Siniya and near Makhoul mountain and al-Masfa, among them the agricultural crops belonging to the apostate MP Ali al-Sijri[iii] northwest of Tikrit.
And the mujahideen in the past week have burnt a number of the agricultural lands among them the farm of the apostate called Othman Sheikh Tami one of the leaders of the tribal Hashd in the Khanaqin district who brought together a number of his relatives and formed through them a force to aid the Rafidite army and Hashd in fighting the mujahideen.
And the apostates for their part have begun talking in the media about their intention to ask their Rafidite government to compensate them for what they have lost from the value of tons of wheat and barley that they spent millions on according to their claims.
Burning the farms of apostates in al-Baraka
And the burnings of the lands of the apostates have not been confined just to Iraq but have also befallen the apostates in al-Sham as the mujahideen during the current week have undertaken the burning of areas of agricultural lands that contain wheat in al-Baraka, which has aroused the indignation and rage of the apostates and healed the hearts of the believers.
For by the grace of God Almighty the soldiers of the Caliphate on Monday 15 Ramadan undertook the burning of dozens of hectares of wheat crops belonging to the apostate called Khalaf al-Zubari in the village of Majeed that is affiliated with the locality of Markada in south Hasakah.
And on Wednesday 17 Ramadan the mujahideen kindled fire on the agricultural crops belonging to the apostate called Khalil al-Yaseen, an agent of the Nusayri regime,[iv] who works with the apostate popular committees in the locality of Markada.
Also the mujahideen burnt other agricultural crops on the same day and in the same locality belonging to the apostate called Khalif al-Yaseen one of the agents of the Nusayri regime.
And the harvest season remains long, and we say to the soldiers of the Caliphate: before you are millions of dunams[v] of lands planted with wheat and barley, owned by the apostates. And before you are their gardens, fields, homes and economic facilities. So role up your sleeves and begin the harvest. God bless your harvest.
[Notes]
[i] Derogatory term for Shi'i
[ii] Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, a Shi'i faction with a presence in Diyala.
[iii] An Iraqi MP from Salah al-Din province.
[iv] Derogatory reference to the Syrian government, though note Markada and south Hasakah province are controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
[v] Unit of land measurement.