Latest Articles and Blog Posts

Liwa al-Imam Zain al-Abidain: Building a 'Resistance' in Eastern Syria

September 18, 2016  •  Syria Comment

Banner of Liwa al-Imam Zain al-Abidain. On top: "The Syrian Resistance" (al-muqawama al-suriya). On bottom: Liwa al-Imam Zain al-Abidain ("The Imam Zain al-Abidain Brigade").

In analysis of militiafication on the Assad regime side, one of the most understudied fronts is that of Deir az-Zor province in eastern Syria, as the regime maintains an outpost in parts of Deir az-Zor city, the military airport and some of the surrounding areas, with no supply routes by land in existence. Despite the regime's rather precarious situation, the Islamic State (IS) has not yet completely wiped out the regime presence in the way that it took the regime's isolated bases in Raqqa province by storm in the summer of 2014.

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Archive of Islamic State Administrative Documents (continued...again)

September 17, 2016 at 1:33 pm

This post constitutes a continuation of the previous posts that comprise the archive of Islamic State administrative documents (cf. here and here) and cannot be expanded further owing to technical issues. Thus, this post begins with Specimen 23A, constituting the 599th specimen in the archives.

Specimen 23A: Return form, office of the affairs of the mujahideen, Shirqat

Islamic State
Wilayat Dijla/Office of the affairs of the mujahideen

No. 267
Date: 13 Jumada alAwal 1436 AH/5 March 2015 CE

Return

The brother [...] belongs to the sector of Shirqat/right side [western Shirqat]

May God reward you best.

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Liwa Sayf al-Haq Assad Allah al-Ghalib: A Republican Guard Militia in Sayyida Zainab

September 16, 2016  •  Syria Comment

Emblem of Liwa Sayf al-Haq Assad Allah al-Ghalib. With a balance flanked by two Syrian flags, the bottom of the emblem features the legendary Dhu al-Fiqar sword of Imam Ali, with the inscription: "There is no hero but Ali and no sword but the Dhu al-Fiqar."

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review of Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate

Fall 2016  •  Middle East Quarterly

At best, Atwan's book amounts to a rehash of common facts and knowledge associated with the Islamic State. Worse, it contains a large number of errors, ultimately rendering the account worthless.

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Jabhat al-Nusra/Jabhat Fatah al-Sham Statement from Jabal al-Summaq: Translation & Analysis

September 5, 2016 at 10:36 pm

As I have documented previously, the Jabal al-Summaq area in Idlib province is originally Druze, but inhabitants were forced to renounce the religion twice and convert to Sunni Islam: first in late November 2013 because of pressure from the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and then under al-Qa'ida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (rebranded at the end of July 2016 as the officially independent Jabhat Fatah al-Sham: hereafter referred to in this post as JFS) in January 2015. Since JFS controls Jabal al-Summaq, with the control being absolute in the villages of the mountain itself (while Ahrar al-Sham also considers the villages on the plain to be within its own zone of influence), there has been a more thorough Islamization program than occurred under ISIS, which withdrew from Idlib province in early 2014 in the face of infighting with rebel factions. The Islamization program has included destruction of shrines and an insistence locals abide by imposed Shari'i regulations, which were reiterated in a speech last year by then Jabhat al-Nusra official- Abu Qatada al-Iraqi- in one of the villages (Kaftin).

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