Enab Baladi – Hassan Ibrahim
Greater than 50 days have handed for the reason that Islamic State (IS) introduced the arrest of the group’s spokesman, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, by the hands of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in its stronghold within the Idlib area, northwestern Syria.
The anomaly nonetheless surrounds his case with none speak about him by Tahrir al-Sham.
The group’s announcement signifies that Idlib was the final station for Abu Omar al-Muhajir, the fourth IS spokesman, and the area had beforehand witnessed the killing of three “Caliphs” out of 4 who have been focused.
The place of IS spokesman was assumed by 5 personalities; three have been killed, and Abu Omar al-Muhajir was the fourth earlier than the appointment of the present new spokesman, Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari.
The HTS controls Idlib and has an extended historical past within the preventing of the Islamic State over the previous 9 years after they have been allies in the identical group, which opened the door to questions concerning the causes that saved the leaders and parts of the IS group in an space topic to a decent safety, and never to decide on Aleppo countryside since it’s a extensive space with a view to keep away from being “straightforward looking for the HTS.
Accusations have been denied
On August 3, the Islamic State’s new spokesman, Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansariaccused Tahrir al-Sham of killing the previous IS chief, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi.
He mentioned that he was killed after a direct confrontation with what he referred to as the “HTS of Apostasy and collaboration with enemies” in a city within the Idlib countryside after they tried to seize him whereas he was at work. He clashed with them together with his weapon till he died from his wounds, in response to the spokesman.
Al-Ansari added, throughout his audio speech, that HTS members lurked close by the group’s spokesman, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, with a few of his brothers, whereas they have been “directing some missions, they usually plotted in opposition to him and made him prisoner, and captured the ladies and bargained with them over some information and secrets and techniques within the service of Erdogan and to win his approval.”
Al-Ansari said that the HTS handed over Abu al-Hussein to the Turkish authorities as an “providing of loyalty and allegiance” to the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to present him an achievement in his electoral marketing campaign.
Then again, the spokesman for the Basic Safety Service working in Idlib, Diaa al-Omar, “completely and utterly” denied the validity of the IS declare that Tahrir al-Sham is answerable for concentrating on Abu al-Hussein and handing him over to the Turkish aspect.
Al-Omar mentioned in an announcement printed on August 4 that if the “Caliph” of the IS group had been killed by the Basic Safety, he would have “congratulated the Muslims and introduced it straight,” with out al-Omar mentioning any details about the seize of IS spokesman Abu Omar al-Muhajir, in Idlib.
Hideout for IS caliphs
Regardless of the existence of rivalry, hostility, and preventing between IS and HTS, which emerged from the womb of al-Qaeda and later introduced its separation from any formation, the group’s first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, took refuge in Idlib and was killed in a US airdrop on the Barisha village within the northern countryside of Idlib on October 27, 2019.
The operation resulted within the killing of seven civilians (three males, three girls, and a baby lady).
The second chief, Abdullah Qardash (Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi), was killed on February 3, 2022, by an American airdrop on a home within the border village of Atma, which resulted within the killing of not less than 13 folks, together with six youngsters and 4 girls.
Final August, IS accused Tahrir al-Sham of killing its fourth chief, Abu al-Hussein al-Qurashi, regardless of Tahrir al-Sham’s denial of this.
The third Caliph, Abu al-Hassan al-Qurashi, was killed in a Free Syrian Military operation within the southern Daraa governorate in October 2022, in response to Joe Buccino, the spokesman for the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
Aaron Y. ZelinRichard Borow Fellow on the Washington Institute for Close to East Coverage, who covers jihadist teams in North Africa and Syria, informed Enab Baladi that IS believes (from its perspective) that HTS areas are safer for its exercise and a protected haven evaluating to the strongholds of the Turkish-backed Syrian Nationwide Military in northwestern Syria.
Zelin urged that the explanation for staying in Idlib is the presence of stronger historic networks in Idlib than within the neighboring Aleppo governorate.
Additionally, the concentrating on of three leaders of the IS group in Idlib leads one to imagine that the group will rethink this technique as a result of it’s clear that it’s not profitable, particularly for the reason that HTS assaults didn’t solely goal top-level IS figures but additionally many mid-to-lower-level cells/operatives as effectively, which means that the group violates expectations, in response to the educational professional.
Al-Muhajir places HTS in an “embarrassing” state of affairs
The HTS or the Basic Safety Service working are repeatedly saying the arrest of IS sleeper cells and members in its areas of management in Idlib with out speaking afterwards about their destiny or their trials, which stay mysterious and don’t seem to the general public.
The Basic Safety’s knowledge is restricted to some clarifications, together with what it printed in June 2022 concerning the particulars of the arrest of plenty of folks linked to IS.
Diaa al-Omar, the official spokesman for the Basic Safety Service, mentioned on the time that amongst these arrested have been officers and leaders affiliated with what is named the “Levant State,” and holding delicate positions, an important of which is securing roads and provides.
They have been present in possession of explosive belts, weapons, and ammunition, together with rifles and pistols of varied calibers, laptops, and others, with out additional particulars about their destiny, strategies of trial, or punishments imposed on them.
The arrest of al-Muhajir has a unique specificity than the remainder of the weather as a result of messages and knowledge go by him, and maybe plans and even communications, and the places of IS parts and sleeper cells.
The difficulty that opened the dialog about the opportunity of Tahrir al-Sham benefiting from his presence below its management or the opportunity of utilizing him as a card with one of many events or international locations preventing the IS group.
Orabi Orabi, a Syrian researcher who focuses on jihadi teams, informed Enab Baladi that the group can keep away from and evade the knowledge possessed by Abu Omar al-Muhajir, no matter it might be, mentioning that he might possess data that has a “easy” impression and influences the group inside an area scope on the degree of Idlib, and maybe concerning the presence of IS parts within the area.
Orabi believes that the arrest of al-Muhajir, if it befell, can be an ethical blow to the Islamic State, so to talk, and maybe the group doesn’t see it that method as a result of it was the one who acknowledged his arrest and had it not been introduced, nobody would have heard about it.
He identified that Tahrir al-Sham has an curiosity in hiding many detainees from the media facade or speaking about them.
Orabi believes that IS had intentionally referred to the arrest of Abu Omar al-Muhajir with a view to put HTS in an embarrassing state of affairs and ship a message that IS doesn’t care or that the arrest of al-Muhajir doesn’t have an effect on the group’s plan of action and doesn’t threaten its operations.
Orabi identified that the delay in IS’ announcement of the killing of the fourth caliph and the arrest of al-Muhajir for greater than three months signifies that IS was within the stage of constructing inside balances and getting approvals from the Shura Council with a view to agree on a sure character.
For his half, Zelin urged the likelihood that there have been hidden (secret) discussions about the usage of al-Muhajir with one of many international locations, with out estimates of the scale of the positive aspects that HTS would receive in change for IS spokesman, besides maybe paying it in money in change for entry to this individual.
On the similar time, Zelin believes that assembly al-Muhajir might not arouse the curiosity of the People presently, given their sturdy concentrate on the group’s exercise in Syria and the killing and arrest of many different leaders earlier this yr.
Tahrir al-Sham has by no means introduced negotiations handy over leaders or members of IS to different events or international locations, whereas it has a historical past of negotiations handy over kidnapped folks inside areas of its management, with the fee of a monetary ransom in return, which the latter hid whereas press experiences and investigations revealed it.
Enab Baladi had beforehand monitored offers to launch Syrian activists and fighters from kidnappers affiliated with extremist factions, the worth of which was estimated on common at $100,000 per individual.
Three spokesmen lifeless
Taha Subhi Falaha, higher often known as Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, was the primary official spokesman for the IS group.
Al-Adnani was born within the metropolis of Binnish within the Idlib countryside in 1977 and joined the Islamic State of Iraq group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi throughout the American invasion of Iraq.
Al-Adnani was appointed spokesman for IS upon his entry into Syria in mid-2013, and he was thought-about the group’s second-in-command after al-Baghdadi on the time.
On August 30, 2016, IS introduced the killing of al-Adnani in Aleppo countryside whereas “inspecting the repulsion of the army campaigns in opposition to Aleppo.” Russia claimed duty for his killing, however the US described the Russian statements as ridiculous and attributed the concentrating on to itself.
In December 2016, the group introduced that Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir was the brand new spokesman, succeeding al-Adnani. Not a lot was recognized about his true identification, however his nom de guerre indicated that he was not Syrian, in response to specialists within the jihadist actions.
In 2019, the commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, introduced the killing of the spokesman, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, in an air strike a couple of hours after the killing of IS chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Days after Abdi’s announcement, the group’s third spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Qurashi, appeared by way of an audio speech, during which he mourned the group’s chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the earlier spokesman, Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, and mentioned that the latter hails from “the (Arabian) Peninsula of Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him,” which means that he’s of Saudi nationality.
He identified that Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir was one of many first to come back to struggle the People in Iraq after the invasion in 2004.
The time period of the group’s third spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Qurashi, lasted three years and IS didn’t announce his loss of life.
Nevertheless, researchers imagine that he was killed together with the group’s fourth chief in an American airdrop in Atma, north of Idlib, as a result of the fourth spokesman, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, printed an audio speech for the primary time on March 10 during which he introduced the killing of Abdullah Qardash.
The final speech of the fourth speaker, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, was on November 3, 2022, when he introduced the killing of the third IS chief, Abu l-Hassan l-Hashemi l-Qurashi, and the appointment of Abu al-Hussein al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as successor.
