Assessment and Weapons Analysis: African Islamic State Groups Pledge Allegiance to New Leader

As it last did in November 2022, the global jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) released a lengthy audio on 3 August via its official media outlet al-Furqan Foundation to announce the death of its former leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Quraysh, after a clash with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the southern countryside of Idlib. As communicated by IS, the former IS spokesman, Abu Umar al-Muhajir, was also imprisoned by HTS.

In the new audio, it is the new Islamic State spokesman Abu Hudhaifa al-Ansari who speaks, after explaining the circumstances of the death of his former “caliph”, and announced the appointment of Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraysh as leader of the organization. As usual, and for the third time in the last sixteen months, the IS spokesman asked all fighters in the official provinces, supporters, and sympathizers, to swear allegiance to the new caliph.

Thus began the new campaign of pledging allegiance to the new leader of IS. Among the most active and important provinces over the past year are undoubtedly the African ones, which in military and propaganda terms are undoubtedly the most active and the ones most to be watched out for in terms of risk analysis and security threats.