Islamic State wilayats pledged allegiance to their new leader

After the Islamic State (IS) leadership announced the appointment of the new organisation’s leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Quraysh, IS spokesman Abu Umar requested all fighters in the provinces to swear allegiance to the new “Caliph”.

Al-Furqan media, which handles the official communications of the Islamic State leadership, released new audio which confirmed the death of IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraysh and announced that the Shura Council had appointed a successor and new “caliph” Abu Al-Hassan al-Hashimi Al-Quraysh (Al-Furqan media announced the release of a new media product). Following this announcement, Islamic State’s media channels started releasing a new campaign of bay’ah, an oath of loyalty, to the new leader to push its fighters to swear allegiance to him.

Since the release of the new audio the following Wilayats have pledged allegiance to the new Islamic State leader:

1. 1. Wilayah Iraq – Kirkuk. Analysing the images is possible to note that the IS militants covered their faces and obscured the surrounding landscape to hide their location and identities.

      

   2. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West Africa Province – ISWAP). According to the initial analysis, the pictures refer to the Lake Chad area in Nigeria.

      

   3. Wilayah al-Sham (Islamic State in Syria). Several pictures have been released, most seemingly from different militants’ cella scattered in the province.
      

      

   4. Wilayah al-Somal (Islamic State in Somalia). Militants apparently seem better equipped than previous pictures released by the local group.
      

      

   5. Wilayah Sharq Asia (Islamic State in East Asia – ISEAP). Several militants featured in the pictures, location most probably either the Philippines or Indonesia.
      

      

   6. Wilayah Iraq – Anbar. This was the second sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

      

   7. Wilayah al-Yaman (Yemen). Interestingly, the branch has not been claiming any attack in the region since August 2020.

      

   8. Wilayah Iraq – Salah al-Din. This was the third sector in the province that pledge its allegiance.

      

   9. Wilayah Khurasan (Islamic State Khorasan – ISKP; Afghanistan & Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province). Similarly to other major provinces such as Wilayah Iraq, Sham, and ISWAP, numerous pictures have been published showing several cells of ISKP militants.

      

   10. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (al-Faruq camp).

       

   11. Wilayah Libya. It is the first set of photos so far to consist of only 3 photos (far fewer than those of a few months ago).

       

   12. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Sambisa forest).

       

   13. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Banki region). As in all ISWAP pictures, militants are well equipped and armed with vehicles. Several underaged militants are also visible, seemingly former Jamaat Ahl al-Sunnat (JAS) child soldiers who joined ISWAP after the death of former JAS leader Abubakar Shekau in May last year.

       

   14. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West Africa Province – ISWAP) – Sahel region (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso). This is the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), which in terms of remote province management and propaganda, is subsumed under ISWAP, but ISGS is operationally independent and autonomous with its own leadership.
   15. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West Africa Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Kirenawa area).

       

   16. Wilayah Pakistan (ISPP, mainly concentrated in Balochistan now).
       

       

   17. Wilayah Iraq – North Baghdad. This was the fourth sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

       

   18. Wilayah Iraq – South Sector. This was the fifth sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

       

   19. Wilayah Iraq – Diyala Sector. The sixth Iraqi sector that pledges its allegiance.

       

   20. Wilayah Iraq – Nineveh. This was the seventh sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

       

   21. Wilayah al-Hind (India – ISHP). Pictures are from different but small cells, apparently poorly equipped.

       

   22. Wilayah Iraq – Tigris. This was the eighth sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

       

   23. Wilayah Sinai (Egypt). It is worth noting that in the pictures, many militants wear bedouin garments which presumably suggests they hide among the civilian population, as the group generally conducts low-profile attacks.

       

Update March 17th, 2022 – Time 10.060 (Central European Time). This thread will be constantly updated with all the oaths of allegiance from the different wilayats.

Tags: Islamic State jihad propaganda terrorism wilaya