Category: Syria

New video message from The Islamic State: "They Bewitched the Eyes of the People and Struck Terror Into Them – Wilāyat al-Khayr"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

The title of this release is in reference to Qur’anic verse 7:116. Here it is in full: “He said, ‘Throw,’ and when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people and struck terror into them, and they presented a great [feat of] magic.”
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To inquire about a translation for this video message for a fee email: [email protected]

Check out my new research paper for the Washington Institute: "The Islamic State's Territorial Methodology"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin


Abstract:
Since June 2014, when the Islamic State proclaimed itself a caliphate, a pattern has emerged in the way IS expands into new territories and consolidates its control. In this new study, jihadi expert Aaron Y. Zelin provides a framework for understanding how the Islamic State goes from no control to full consolidation of control in a particular area. Three case studies show how this framework plays out: the Islamic State’s success in Wilayat Tarabulus in Libya, its failure in Wilayat Idlib in Syria, and its ongoing building process in various self-proclaimed provinces in Yemen. This framework is unique in providing tools to analyze IS’s position with regard to expansion or recession irrespective of the locus of IS provinces. This paper thus provides important insights into IS’s state-building project and how it hopes to export its model to its constellation of provinces.
Click here to read the entire paper.