Daesh has declared a new leader after it confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi days earlier in a US raid in Syria, Metro reported. In an audio release by Daesh’s central media arm, al-Furqan Foundation, a new spokesman for Daesh identified the successor as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi – tracing his lineage, like al-Baghdadi, to the Prophet Mohammed’s Quraysh tribe.

According to The New York Times, Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was able to hide out in an unlikely part of Syria, the base of a rival group, because he was paying protection money to its members, according to receipts for the payments recovered by researchers. While the rival group kept Mr. al-Baghdadi’s secret, he was ultimately betrayed by a close confidant, two American officials said Wednesday.

In the hours and days following the announcement of Abu Ibrahim Al Quraishi as the new leader of Daesh, ‘wilayats’ or provinces began to pledge allegiance to him, reported The National. The oaths of allegiance, called Bay’ah, are a continuation of a wider push from Daesh groups to show cohesion in the wake of complete territory loss in Syria and Iraq in March said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior associate fellow and the Royal United Services Institute.

Militants in eastern Mali have killed 49 soldiers in an attack on a military post in Indelimane in the Menaka region, the army has said. This makes it one of the deadliest assaults of the past decade. Daesh said via its self-styled Amaq news outlet it was behind the attack, BBC reported. Mali has suffered violence since 2012, when Islamist militants took over the north. With the help of France, Mali’s army has recaptured the territory.

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