Inside Syria Media Center sources on the ground give an inside look into the scattered, yet still very present ISIS organization, and reports on personnel changes and renewal of ISIS leadership.
Senior officials are currently in hiding and are trying to optimize the management of their structure and continue to carry out illegal subversive activities in a number of Western countries.
According to sources, ISIS leadership is still under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The representatives of ISIS’ military council are Iyad Abdulrahman al-Abadi, who is known as Abu Saleh al-Haifa, and Abu al-Harith Bashar Ismail al-Jarjar. For all the security issues, Iyad Hamid Khalifa al-Jamili, known as Abdulrahman Ansari, and Abu Ali at-Turkmeni from Turkmenistan known as Abdul Bin Waheed Bin Khader Bin Ahmad, are responsible. One of the high-ranking field commanders is Mustafa Sat Marim al-Nasr, also known as Masib As-Suri. The coordinators and official representatives, as well as spokesmen of the radical group, are Abu Hajir al-Sufi and Abu Hasan al-Muhajir. Besides, Abu Salah (Mustafa Mohamed al-Jarmusch) runs the financial management of ISIS.
There are also a number of specific posts in the jihadi caliphate. For example, Abu Muhammad is in charge of all the prisons on the IS-controlled territory, and Abu Saji, known as Khairi Abd al-Khumud at-Taiami, is responsible for the social policy of the jihadists. Abu Shimaa, also known as Faris Riyad al-Naimi, is engaged in all the kinds of weapons supplies while a citizen of Tunisia Tariq bin al-Tahar bin al-Falih al-Awni al-Harzi, known as Abu Umar al-Tunisi, is in charge of the operations with the use of suicide bombers in Syria. According to some sources, he wasn’t killed in a U.S. drone strike at Shaddadi in north-eastern Syria on 16 June 2015, as reported by western media, but this has not yet been confirmed.
In addition, Abu Qasim, known as Abdallah Ahmad al-Mashhadani, oversees the meeting from abroad and training of new militants, as well as the brainwashing of the suicide bombers. The chief editor of IS affiliated ‘Dabiq’ magazine, Ahmad Abu Samra, is engaged in propaganda and interaction with mainstream media, while the social engineering and organizational engineering on Twitter is conducted by Mahdi Saidi, and seemingly allowed without issue while independent media are regularly censored and banned on the social media outlet. Subversive activities are concentrated in the hands of Abu Amr al-Kardash and his assistant for distant mining is Abu Amr al-Malcum.
It is also noted that the ISIS economy is concentrated in the hands of the Minister Haydar al-‘Abadi (Ahmad al-Salih) and his deputy named Abu Hazma. ISIS emir in Western Kalamun is Muafik al-Jarban Abu as-Sus, and in the south of Damascus is Abu al-Dahman. Military operations in the south of Syria are led by Abu Samir al-Urduni, Jordanian by nationality. The sources also report that the head of the ISIS-affiliated Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid Army in the south of Syria is Nadir al-Zeyab (Abu Ali), and her military leader is Abd al-Karim al-Misri.
Interestingly enough, some of the high-ranking radicals managed to survive, according to eye witnesses, although, the U.S. reports that they had been killed as a result of drone attacks or coalition airstrikes. Is there deception taking place here? It seems a conspiracy may be underway. You may be quite surprised to know that some high-ranking militants have fled recently to the territory of neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq at the first sign of threat against their lives. Together with their family, they took along their bloody looted property leaving the rest of the radicals to the mercy of fate. Among the most famous militants who took advantage of the situation, are the head of the so-called ‘Islamic Police’ in the province of Deir-Ezzor, Mahmoud Jaber Haij Rujuk, known as Abu Al-Jude, as well as Abu Laidan al-Iraqi responsible for the city of al-Mayadin. The others include the IS Minister of Agriculture, Abdulrahman Akal al-Araf (Abu al-Haras) along with his father, and the Secretary-General for Real Estate in the province of Deir-Ezzor, Abu Hazif al-Dashish.
At the same time, the information about some previously appointed commanders remains unclear. It is now known, for example, that the head of intelligence in the province of Deir Ezzor, Abu Firas Ash-Shahil, and his assistant have not been able to cope with their duties. But their fate is unknown at the moment. Many know ‘White Widow’ Sally Jones was responsible for suicide operations in the province of Raqqa. She was close to the border between Syria and Iraq when she was allegedly killed by a U.S. drone strike in Syria in June 2017. This ‘office’ as well as many others in ISIS structure are vacant now or have been ‘reduced’ as a result of the Syrian Arab Army’s successful activity.
Furthermore, there are no longer such positions as ‘a person responsible for Deir-Ezzor defense’. This position was earlier occupied by now escaped Ahmad al-Dunham and Abu Didjan al-Zor. Other ranks now unavailable, such as ‘a person responsible for the Tunisian detachments in ISIS’ and ‘a person responsible for al-Bukamal defense’ were held by Syrian Saddam al-Jamal. Such posts like one ‘responsible for the security in Deir-Ezzor’ occupied by Iraqi native Abu Tawfiq al-Iraqi, as well as ‘responsible for finances in the province of Deir-Ezzor’ occupied by Abu Arif al-Iraqi were also relegated to the dustbin of history as their chiefs fled.
It seems that ISIS’ days are numbered. The Syrian Arab Army under the help of its allies broke the back of the powerful earlier structure and is now finishing off its remains. No personnel changes or other transformations in its ranks can help ISIS to rise from the ashes. The scattered ISIS-Islamists are still present on the Syrian soil, but they will have been dealt with in the end.
Editor’s Note: While the world collective should rejoice in the destruction — due predominately to the joint efforts of Russia and Syria — of the western created boogeyman known as ISIS, it is by no means eradicated. There are reports of ISIS activity popping all around the world, typically in interesting proximity to western operations and endeavors. The true purpose of this entity, and its political and social uses to its controlling hand, must be recognized and discussed, lest the affronts to the sovereignty of the Syrian people be set to repeat around the world, creating more pretext for the continuation of illegal and unwarranted western aggression.
