Overview
Attacks in Syria and Iraq as well as Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya and Yemen were reported on official Daesh channels, along with the murder of two men in Afghanistan, alleged to be spies. For the third time during February, Amaq released a video of wounded civilians in the remains of a house said to have been hit by a US airstrike. Al-Naba called for attacks on Russia and claimed a renewed campaign in Libya. Several new posters from Daesh supporters were circulated on Telegram, inciting attacks on members of the public and on political and religious leaders in various countries.
Video of combat scenes in Syria
A 12 minute video, billed as the second of a series titled The Glory of Jihad was released via Daesh Telegram channels on 22 February under the brand of ‘Barakah province’. Battle footage, including of suicide attacks, dominates the footage, and is presented as taking place in Syria, though specific locations are not given. Among the clips featured is one of a disabled man on crutches who is shown firing a gun. A narrator promises that Daesh will fight ‘until the last man’ and warns its enemies they will have no security of peace until the lands are ‘returned to the rule of God’. The fighting is presented as part of a military campaign titled the ‘Battle of Revenge for the Chaste/Virtuous’.
Al-Naba on Russia, Libya and Egypt
An editorial in the 22 February edition of al-Naba (Daesh’s weekly newspaper) called for attacks on Christians in ‘Russian occupied Muslim lands’. Another article claimed to be conducting a ‘war of attrition’ in Libya, citing a number of recent attacks against both Libyan National Army (LNA) forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and its rival UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) which it had not previously claimed. Another article included an infographic setting out Daesh’s claims of success in its efforts to ‘repel’ the ongoing military campaign in Sinai of the Egyptian Army.
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