Alessandra Ciffo
On March 28th, Al-Furqan Foundation, the
Islamic State (IS) Al-Furqan Media Center, published a 41.05 min audio message from the
official spokesman, Abu Huzaifa Al-Ansari, entitled “We swear by Allah this
matter will be completed.”
Abu Huzaifa Al-Ansari started addressing the 10th
anniversary of the IS Khilāfah[1] proclamation, back ten years ago, which nowadays it
remains active through military operations in various areas, from the Middle
East to Africa, from Iraq to the Sahel, despite the international coalition
efforts led by the United States, globally plunging into a “major war of attrition”.
The spokesman continued saying that despite the series of bombing and counterterrorism military operations against IS targets and forces from
its defeat in between the Bush and Obama Administrations [2], the
Islamic State surprises the entire world with its resilience to survive, its
ability to make and strengthen massive alliances [3]
against the Western, especially The United States, managing to expand[4] throughout
the world, in particular in the MENA region and Africa[5],
recalling the most famous battles of the decade, including the ones in Mosul,
Raqqa, Baghouz, Sirte, and Marawi. Abu
Huzaifa emphasized the straightforwardness and braveness of all 4 IS “caliphs” during these ten years because no
one of them “died in his bed, all died in battle with the enemies, fighting and
dying like thousands of their fighters…, choosing to be hidden, despite their
numerous merits and valor.”
In these ten years, The IS has been fighting the
Western countries and also the countries who are allied or have a relationship
with them, their Security Forces, and Intelligence Agents, reporting that “have
not lowered its banner, did not soften its approach, did not become kinder to
its enemies, did not concede or compromise, and fought with everything it had.”
Abu Huzaifa Al-Ansari conveyed greetings to various
Islamic State Wilayats: Mozambique
Province, praising the local militants for their “diligence and courage” and
the need to call the local Christian population to Islam; the IS Central Africa Province (ISCAP)
mujahideen calling to intensify the fight against Christian authorities and
groups; IS West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, greeting their military
merits and achievements; as well as IS Khorasan Province (ISKP), listing, also his “achievements”[6] mentioning
the recent massive armed assault in the Crocus City Hall, Krasnogorsk
outskirts, Moscow city, Russia; IS East Asia Province (ISEAP) militants in the
Philippines, urging to shift their armed operation from forests to city
centers. To the Somalia State, inviting it to start launching attacks towards
city centers. The spokesman also exhorted IS mujahideen from IS-Libya, Yemen
Province, and Sinai Province (IS-SP) to be “united and patient,” congratulating them to the Muslims in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon[7] for
the Kerman suicide bombing in Iran, on January 2024[8], declaring
“this attack is only the first in a long series of retributions.” It follows the greetings to IS militants from
Syria, highlighting their military
operations in the Syrian desert against the Syrian Army (SAA), and Russian
Forces, burning several of their convoys[9], and
the IS militants from Iraq, addressing them as “bearers of the banner of the
Caliphate… those who ignited the spark of the Caliphate and fanned its
flame,…those who turned the life of the Shiites into hell, deprived them of
imaginary security and forced them to curse the imaginary victory.” After
making fun of the Iraqi Government Security Forces' counterintelligence
inefficiency and its inability to counter response to IS operativeness, Abu Huzeifa Al-Ansari reported the goal of IS is to "gather and destroy
their armies and cleanse Iraq of their filth, In Shaa Allah."
It followed an address to all “Ummah of Islam”, saying that the ongoing “tragedy” in Gaza is
just “a repetition of the tragedies that happened in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and
other countries, and there is only one way to stop this - unification in one I
am building around one ruler under the banner of Sharia, and all the efforts of
the Islamic State are aimed at making this happen…”, referring also to the policy regarding the
Palestinian issue overtime, consisting on in fighting the Jews in Israel, and
its supporters worldwide, which is the reason why “ghazwa in support of
Palestine was carried out wherever there is an ISIS presence…”, thanking
everyone who participates and aid in it, and praying Allah to help the IS fighters in reaching
Palestine and “enter into a religious war with the Jews”. Moreover, referring
to the IS prisoners of war and their relatives, he “bows his head, not even
knowing what to say to them, what words of support, since simply words about
the need to persevere in truth and patience are not the way out, and that on
the neck of the IS militants and their leadership[10] owes
a huge debt to the captives and they will do everything to repay this debt, no
matter how difficult the adversities along the way.”[11] Then, he reports the following messages to the
prisoners from the Caliph Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi: “What harm will it
bring to you that people have forgotten about you if the Lord of the Worlds
remembers you? And this is because hearts are broken. It is out of
His kindness that Allah, Praise be to Him, crushes the souls of His slaves
until they return to Him, and until He closes all doors in front of them except
His own. Until they humiliated and humble, lie down on His threshold, persuading
Allah to look at them and their state of complete suffering, hoping for His
forgiveness, mercy, and relief from Him. Even if nothing else is enough for
you, this understanding alone is enough for joy, so rest assured, because Allah
has allocated only a certain time for each test and it will end when Allah has
ordained it. And take advantage of your high position before Allah by
supporting your brothers with a strong weapon and a sharp sword, so that Allah
can protect them from your enemy and their enemy - for after mercy from Their
Lord, they fight because of your dua that you offer to Allah, and they draw
support from you in their war. Don't underestimate your weakness ask Allah for
a reward and the quick news of relief from Allah is Allah’s promise to his
slaves if adversity and suffering become unbearable, and troubles increase many
times over.”
The official IS secretary press follows up by focusing
on the problem of the al-Hol camp, and Kurds calling on IS Syria militants to
attack the authorities and employees of the al-Hol camp with all kinds of
attacks, including suicide bombers, stating “there is no better retribution for
horror than horror”, and exhorting the mujahideen “not to stop at anything and
not to be limited in their revenge, except for what Shariah limits - because
the Kurds treated the camp residents cruelly and insulted them.”[12]
He started to talk about the “crusaders, unbelievers and Jews” saying
their war with IS has reached a stalemate point, becoming an issue with no
solution, because all potential solutions have been spent in the war between IS in Iraq and Syria and USA and its allies,
whom has not stopped and continue to attack.
In the fight against IS, the spokesman said the United
States “suffered failure after failure, since all its attempts to destroy the
organization on the ground were unsuccessful.” In the past, they failed to
“extinguish the flame of jihad” in Iraq during the Bush Administration, stop
the creation of the Caliphate during the Obama Admin., and destroy it with
Trump and during Biden’s, the USA also failed to stop the spread of IS power
worldwide, because “only Allah gives power on earth to whomever he wishes, including
his slaves.” Even, the US allies are
faced with a war of attrition in many countries, not able to achieve any
concrete results. The USA has to
consider that during the time of launching the
Iraqi invasion, 20 years ago, they faced a hybrid conflict against
different small militias and groups, but nowadays they are fighting “by a state
created by one of these groups[13], and
not only in Iraq alone, but rather by those militants that operate in Iraq
(this is just one of the IS armies in one of the wilayat…” with limited capabilities, and in Africa, even
though its great efforts, the Western countries are still failing to assemble a
coalition of local regimes against the Islamic State, stating also that due to
the rise of national and transnational issues, losses and damages, when the
United States will leave Iraq to this, the Iraqi government forces “will face
the inevitable fate of the second Spiker and the third Fallujah, or even worse,
if it is the will of Allah” and “if your first withdrawal of troops from Iraq
was a mistake, oh which you regretted, now your continued stay will be an even
bigger mistake."
[1] Caliphate in Arabic.
[2] Abu Huzeifa recalls the IS
terrorists who died in battles in Iraq and Syria in 2014-2019, describing them
as “loyal to the oath, rushing to the Shahada, and the scenes of their battles
for Islam and the establishment of Sharia were amazing.”
[3] Which included
“Roman, Persian, and Yahud.”
[4] It refers both, to the
military operations conducted, and also its ideological spread through the rise
of recruits and memberships.
[5] From Iraq and
Syria to Afghanistan, the Sahel and Southern Africa.
[6] The IS spokesman wishes the
ISKP to continue targeting military Shiites, Chinese, USA, Hindus, Sikhs, and
“all pagans”.
[7] Who is considered
the most affected by the “Iranian expansion” led by Qassem Soleimani, according
to Abu Huzeifa Al-Ansari.
[8] On January 3rd, 2024, during
the commemorative ceremony for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the IS-
IS-Khorasan Province (ISKP) conducted 2 suicide bomb explosions against his
mausoleum grave, which led to the killing of at least 94 people, and injuring
284 others.
[9] Abu Huzeifa also
“ridicules” official media, press, and
broadcasting due to their wrong attributions of
Syrian IS militants' attacks in the Syrian desert, attributing them to some “unknowns”, or also “preferring to remain silent about
them altogether.”
[10] Including Abu Huzeifa Al-Ansari himself.
[11] According to the spokesman,
the captives have bought the “fullness of their religion at the cost of worldly
prosperity and everything that happens to them is the price for protecting
Sharia and preserving Islam…”, remembering the words and slogans are full of
meaning representing a sort of “covenant with Allah” promising to free the
captives at any cost, as witnessed by the Iraq, Syria, Khorasan, and Congo
prisoners.
[12] He considered the Kurdish PKK
SDF militias loyal to local tribes, calling them even more “despicable and
humiliated than al-Sahwa of Iraq,” declaring the IS fighters “will make every
effort to make their fate even worse than the sad one. the fate of al-Sahwa of
Iraq.”
[13] As referring to the Caliphate
of the Islamic State.
