Islamic State wilayats pledged allegiance to their new leader

SpecialEurasia Project Monitoring Jihadist Propaganda Terrorism
SpecialEurasia reported this information thanks to its Project “Monitoring Jihadist Propaganda& Terrorism” 

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. 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.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Kirkuk pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – Kirkuk’s fighters pledge allegiance to the new ‘Caliph.’
    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.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism ISWAP pledged allegiance
      Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    3. Wilayah al-Sham (Islamic State in Syria). Several pictures have been released, most seemingly from different militants’ cella scattered in the province.

      Monitoring jihadist propaganda Wilayah Sham pledged allegiance
      Wilayah al-Sham (Syria) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    4. Wilayah al-Somal (Islamic State in Somalia). Militants apparently seem better equipped than previous pictures released by the local group.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah al Somal pledged allegiance
      Wilayah al-Somal (Somalia) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    5. Wilayah Sharq Asia (Islamic State in East Asia – ISEAP). Several militants featured in the pictures, location most probably either the Philippines or Indonesia.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Sharq Asia pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Sharq Asia (Islamic State in East Asia) pledge allegiance to the new Caliph.
    6. Wilayah Iraq – Anbar. This was the second sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq Anbar pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – Anbar pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    7. Wilayah al-Yaman (Yemen). Interestingly, the branch has not been claiming any attack in the region since August 2020.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah al Yaman pledged allegiance
      Wilayah al-Yaman (Yemen) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    8. Wilayah Iraq – Salah al-Din. This was the third sector in the province that pledge its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq Salah al Din pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – Salah al-Din pledge allegiance to the new Caliph.
    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.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Khurasan pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Khurasan (Afghanistan & Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    10. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (al-Faruq camp).

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah West Africa pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (al-Faruq camp) pledge allegiance to the new Caliph.
    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).

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Libya pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Libya pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    12. Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Sambisa forest).

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya Nigeria Sambisa forest pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Sambisa forest) pledge allegiance to the new Caliph.
    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.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya Nigeria Banki region pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Banki region) pledge allegiance to the new Caliph.
    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).

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah North Africa Nigeria Kirenawa area. pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West Africa Province – ISWAP) – Nigeria (Kirenawa area) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    16. Wilayah Pakistan (ISPP, mainly concentrated in Balochistan now).

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Pakistan pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Pakistan (ISPP) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    17. Wilayah Iraq – North Baghdad. This was the fourth sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq North Baghdad pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – North Baghdad pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    18. Wilayah Iraq – South Sector. This was the fifth sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq South Sector pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – South Sector pledged its allegiance to the new Caliph.
    19. Wilayah Iraq – Diyala Sector. The sixth Iraqi sector that pledges its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq Diyala Sector pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – Diyala Sector pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    20. Wilayah Iraq – Nineveh. This was the seventh sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq Ninive pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – Ninive Sector pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    21. Wilayah al-Hind (India – ISHP). Pictures are from different but small cells, apparently poorly equipped.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah al Hind pledged allegiance
      Wilayah al-Hind (India – ISHP) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    22. Wilayah Iraq – Tigris. This was the eighth sector in Iraq that pledge its allegiance.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Iraq Tigris pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Iraq – Tigris/Diyala Sector pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.
    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.

      SpecialEurasia Monitoring jihadist propaganda Terrorism Wilayah Sinai pledged allegiance
      Wilayah Sinai (Egypt) pledged allegiance to the new Caliph.

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.

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