The Islamic State’s efforts to draw attention to the recent disclosure of additional details about the relationship between Omar and al-Qa’ida might prove disastrous for Omar, as well as for the Afghan Taliban ... - Read more...
In a message dated 25 July 2014, Afghan Taliban founder and leader Mullah Mohamed Omar signaled his rejection of the Islamic State’s claim that it has established a caliphate. This, by way of his continued use of a title traditionally reserved for the caliph. ... - Read more...
Analysis of al-Qa’ida’s strategic communications campaign launched in the wake of the Islamic State’s declaration of a caliphate - Read more...
On 20 July 2014, al-Qa’ida’s official media wing, as-Sahab, announced the launch of a new publication. Titled al-Nafir, while the name of this new Arabic-language bulletin may be translated in a number of ways, as used by al-Qa’ida, this term is likely best translated as “a call to arms,” as sounded on battlefields of old by a horn. ... - Read more...
The relationship between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qa’ida has long been murky. But today, deference al-Qa’ida’s senior leaders offer to the so-called “Emir al-Mu’minin” is perhaps more important than at any point since bin Laden subordinated al-Qa’ida to Mullah Omar. ... - Read more...
Last weekend, The Wall Street Journal published an essay titled “The New Jihad,” in which there are a number of factual and analytic problems. Some are minor; others are tremendously misleading for a public that pays little attention to Islam, Salafism, or Salafi-Jihadism (ie Salafiyya Jihadiyya). - Read more...
At a time when PR is a vital element of the Islamic State’s efforts to secure support for its “caliphate,” there are signs the Islamic State’s media wing is encountering problems with the Twitter accounts it uses to generate foreign interest in its endeavors. Still, an account launched several days ago by IS’s multi-language al-Hayat Media Center is helping IS broaden its reach to English-speaking audiences. So too might Dabiq ... - Read more...
Following the Islamic State’s declaration it has established a caliphate, its newly-appointed “caliph” delivered his first address, titled “A Message to the Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah in the Month of Ramadan.” As the message’s title suggests, jihad is the central theme ... - Read more...
In a message titled “This Is the Promise of Allah” that was issued on the first day of Ramadan, the Islamic State (formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) declared its establishment of a caliphate ... - Read more...