Direct Translaion via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov
| Long. Lots of useful information about ISIS at the bottom. |
[REGNUM] The terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS), took responsibility for the terrible terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow. But this only adds questions about the true organizers of the tragedy.
The first message on behalf of Amaq, the main information resource of ISIS, released on March 22, was duplicated on several ISIS-related information platforms, for example, on the ISIS channel “Nashir News” and the pro-ISIS channel “Ilam”, as was also done during other terrorist attacks. On March 23, Amaq published a more detailed statement from ISIS with details of the terrorist attack and with a photo of its perpetrators in front of the organization’s flag.
On the same day, but a little later, there was an official statement from the “press service” of ISIS, which was distributed through channels associated with this terrorist organization. And finally, also on March 23, an Amaq News video appeared with horrifying scenes of the terrorists' actions, filmed by themselves, entitled "Amaq Agency Exclusive Footage."
The fact that the faces of the terrorists in the photos and videos were “blurred” should not be embarrassing and does not indicate the fake nature of these frames. For example, during the terrorist attack in Iranian Kerman, the statement of the terrorists against the backdrop of the ISIS flag was published with “blurred” faces. This is a common but not required practice.
At the same time, there are doubts that the terrorists who carried out the massacre of our fellow citizens had deep ideological ties with ISIS and were recruited directly by emissaries of this group.
The investigation will put a final point on this, but in any case, the involvement of ISIS in this terrorist attack cannot in any way exclude the possibility that, in fact, behind the attack on Crocus City were the intelligence services of states hostile to Russia, primarily the Kiev regime, which took advantage of the “flag” » ISIS and the willingness of these terrorists to chalk up the inhumane act to their own account.
For the “caliphate,” as ISIS calls itself, the statement that its “soldiers” carried out a terrorist attack is, first and foremost, an indicator of the viability of the project. Therefore, in the current conditions, “ISIS” members are not particularly picky about the ideology of the perpetrators, as well as how correctly they understand the dogmatic and other guidelines of this group.
For them, the main thing is to maintain the myth that the “caliphate project” is alive, as is its slogan “to survive and expand.” In this case, we are talking about expanding the group’s activity to those territories where it has not yet declared itself with the bloodiest terrorist attacks, as in the Russian Federation.
On the other hand, for Kyiv, using the ISIS brand is a good way to evade responsibility, but at the same time achieve the same goals as if this terrorist attack was carried out by militants whose affiliation with the Zelensky regime is unconditional.
| Russa desperately wants to hang tuis round Kiev’s neck… |
It is significant that this terrorist action clearly fits into the outline of a terrorist attack on the Russian Federation against the backdrop of the inability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to achieve success in the zone of the Northern Military District.
Hence the DRG attacks on the Belgorod and Kursk regions, the constant shelling of our cities,
kamikaze drone strikes on civilian vehicles and even individual citizens, and, finally, the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall as the apogee of this terrorist offensive.
According to the organizers, the offensive should sow distrust of the population in the authorities, highlight all the most pressing problems (migration, interfaith and interethnic relations), turning cracks in them into fault lines, make Russians realize that now the war concerns each of them, and wherever they are were located from Belgorod to Vladivostok, they cannot feel safe. And even where drones and MLRS missiles cannot reach, terrorists can overtake them.
In this case, for Kyiv it does not matter what brand or name these terrorists have - RDK, ISIS or anything else. The main thing is to achieve your desired goals. Make Russian citizens doubt their choice, which they made on March 15–17, 2024.
As for the possibility of organizing such terrorist attacks, for which ISIS will ultimately take responsibility, a hypothetical situation may look like this: a certain group, attracted through combined recruitment methods, that is, material interest, Russophobia and radical religious attitudes, is being trained and receives everything it needs from the intelligence services of third countries.
Then, in agreement with the same special services, which can act as some kind of “preachers,” they make a statement to ISIS, indicating that they are preparing an attack and that they swear an oath to ISIS, thus receiving the status of “soldiers of the caliphate.” This is in effect for notice.
No emissaries will come and check how sincere these (in)people are in their belief in the ideology of ISIS and share its guidelines; no one will demand a preliminary plan of operation either. This can be done after the fact, and it is even possible that the future terrorist should first record the oath (bayat) of ISIS, send or post the recording in a safe place, without sending directly to the real, deeply secret structures of the terrorist organization, with which he simply does not have communication channels.
All this makes it easier for interested third parties to use the ISIS flag.
It is also noteworthy that the ISIS statement includes the definition of “soldiers of the caliphate”, that is, we are talking about people previously unknown to these terrorists who declared an oath and carried out a terrorist attack on their behalf, without being sent to a particular country by the “central command” of ISIS and the Amniyat security service.
If the terrorist attack is planned directly by Amniyat and proven militants, then the terrorists are no longer declared “soldiers of the caliphate,” but “martyr brothers,” and from the wording itself one can conclude that there is no provision for saving their lives after the terrorist attack.
“INGHIMASI” WITHOUT “ISTISHKHADIYEV”
Formally, ISIS fighters on the battlefield (including during sabotage or terrorist attacks) can be divided into three types, which, in turn, are divided into subtypes: this is the “infantry” itself with light small arms, RPGs and ATGMs; “Istishhadi” - suicide bombers to break through the enemy’s defenses and cause damage to his manpower, who are sent by Amniyat to carry out terrorist attacks; "ingimasi" - "commandos" or "stormtroopers", usually trained fighters for operations and actions in difficult areas, who can also wear suicide "belts", but detonate them only when necessary.
For example, in issue No. 11 of the ISIS magazine “Rumiyah”, the combined terrorist attacks in Tehran are described as follows: the first group of “Istishhadis” blew themselves up at the Khomeini mausoleum, the second group of “Inghimasis” of three people attacked the parliament building.
Accordingly, the terrorists from Crocus City were also called “ingimasi”, despite the fact that among them there were no “istishkhadis”, who are usually used in the preparation of terrorist attacks by Amniyat.
Therefore, now, during the decline of ISIS, the procedure for declaring a “soldier of the caliphate” has become even more simplified. And it allows virtually anyone to use the “ISIS brand.” Especially if we are not talking about suicide attacks, where ideological pumping is required, but about the actions of the “Ingimasyev”.
At the same time, it is obvious that the Crocus terrorists themselves did not have the capabilities to prepare such a terrorist attack, but were most likely selected for the implementation of a specific plan. Weapons caches were organized, waste routes were worked out, and so on. All that ISIS in Russia could hardly organize, but that the intelligence services and local agents of third countries could provide in the interests of terrorists acting on behalf of ISIS.
Again, the Islamic rhetoric appearing as if specifically on the video recording of the terrorist attack should convince these individuals of their “sincere” adherence to the ISIS ideology. Probably, the customers themselves could have asked them for this, which was included in the “price” for ruined human lives.
At the moment, there is no convincing evidence of the involvement of those arrested in Salafi or radical Islamist circles, just as there are no signs of their stable affiliation with the corresponding subculture.
The terrorist attack was not carried out at all in the style of the relevant terrorist organizations.
When attacking such a significant object with an entire armed group, where security forces and police were supposed to arrive, ISIS, obviously, in its own planning of this operation, would be extremely interested in the “ingimasi” eventually blowing up their “suicide belts” when entering the battle.
Those cases when ISIS terrorists left the scene of a terrorist attack are noticeably different from the events at Crocus in terms of the scale of preparation and planning and are more likely to be of a spontaneous nature, like in January 2024 in Istanbul.
"VELAYAT KHORASAN"
In this context, it should also be noted that the statements of ISIS themselves did not say anything that their cell “Islamic State - Velayat Khorasan” (ISIS-K) was behind the terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation.
It is generally believed that this is an Afghan-Pakistani affiliate of ISIS. And the fact that the terrorist attack was carried out by Tajiks should have convinced everyone that ISIS-X was behind it. Let us recall that the terrorist attacks in Iranian Kerman on behalf of ISIS-X were carried out by people from Tajikistan, as was the January terrorist attack in Istanbul.
| ISIS-X, dominated by Tajiks and Uzbeks, is trying to become the most active cell of ISIS along with the group’s African branches and spread its terrorist activity to almost all of Eurasia. |
Actually, ISIS-X, dominated by Tajiks and Uzbeks, is trying to become the most active cell of ISIS along with the group’s African branches and spread its terrorist activity to almost all of Eurasia.
Initially, ISIS-X had Pakistani roots, in the sense that its activities spread to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
Its existence should be counted from September 2014.
Then a “delegation” of IS arrived in the Pakistani province of Waziristan from Syria and Iraq and held negotiations with some representatives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an independent Pakistani jihadist structure fighting Islamabad and not associated with the Afghan Taliban, although consonant in the name. Among the leaders of this group were those who moved away from the traditional Hanafi madhhab for Pashtuns and began to profess Arabian Salafism.
This caused a split in the TTP, and some of its Salafi field commanders tried to impose their views as the only true ones for the entire organization, which, however, did not meet with understanding among the majority of militants and Tehrik leaders. This is what ISIS tried to take advantage of.
As a result of negotiations with IS emissaries, on October 15, 2015, Hafiz Said Khan, one of its leaders, officially left the TTP, along with seven other top-level “schismatics,” including the “official” TTP representative Shahidullah Shahid ; TTP district chief Khyber Gul Zaman Fateh ; TTP Chief Mufti in Peshawar Hassan Swati ; Kurram District Chief Hafiz Dawlat Khan ; TTP commander in Waziristan Abdul Bahar Mehsud and others.
They created a new group called Tehreek-e-Khilafat Pakistan (TCP), pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
ISIS-X was proclaimed on January 11, 2015 and became the successor to the TKP, and Said Khan became its first leader.
The group was unable to gain a foothold in Pakistan due to the rather effective actions of local security forces and the conflict with the TTP and tried to transfer its activity to Afghanistan, where by June 2015 it occupied some areas in the Nananghar province, which is still one of the centers of ISIS activity.
After the Americans eliminated Hafiz Said Khan in 2016 and his successor Abdul Hasib Logari in 2017, ISIS-X actually split into two independent factions, as numerous people from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and other representatives of the Central Asian republics refused to recognize the new leadership ISIS-X is led by Pashtuns who came from Afghanistan.
Thus, two independent groups began to operate under the brand “Islamic State Vilayat Khorasan” in 2017. One - consisting of natives of the Central Asian republics and local Tajiks and Uzbeks who joined them, and the other - of Pakistani Pashtuns and Afghan Salafis from the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan.
This division probably continues to this day, but with a significant dominance of Uzbeks and Tajiks.
At the same time, ISIS-X, having invaded Afghanistan, entered into confrontation not only with government troops and the international contingent, but also with the Taliban, who were able to inflict a number of sensitive defeats on ISIS. For example, they defeated the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which decided to join ISIS-X.
Subsequently, the main burden of countering ISIS in Afghanistan also fell on the Taliban, while government troops, on the contrary, often saved the “ISIS” from complete destruction. As this, for example, happened during the Battle of Darzab in July 2018, where the main forces of ISIS-X were concentrated in Afghanistan at that time.
The Taliban practically destroyed this group of 700 militants (of which 128 were captured). There were 200 survivors who turned to the Afghan pro-American government for help. It provided them with a corridor to retreat to territories controlled by government forces, so as not to be completely destroyed by the Taliba. There, the remnants of this group surrendered to the Afghan authorities.
Currently, despite terrorist attacks, ISIS-X in Afghanistan is significantly weaker than in 2017–2018. The group can carry out individual acts of intimidation, but is unable to ensure sustainable territorial control over entire regions.
Therefore, it is likely that the Taliban will be able to restrain the activity of ISIS-X and prevent any cities and regions from falling under its control, but it is unlikely that in the foreseeable future they will be able to completely eliminate all cells of this terrorist organization in Afghanistan.
In turn, ISIS-X seeks to demonstrate its activity through various terrorist attacks, thereby compensating for its own failures in Afghanistan, and at the same time, it is probably ready to provide “its flag” to anyone who will bring “black resonance” to the group.
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[NY Post] Pakistan’s capital was put under a security lockdown on Sunday ahead of protests by supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan calling for his release.