IS media machine almost wiped out

Ahmed Sultan

The terrorist Islamic State group has aired a new video, documenting the different operations its cells carried out against Syria Democratic Forces, widely known as QSD, in some parts east of the Euphrates in the past months.

The video, called “Attrition Battle”, shows the assassination and liquidation of QSD members. It also contains old footage of the siege of the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz in March this year, as well as parts of an interview with Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi late in April this year as well.

Noticeable in the video still is the low quality of its production, compared with the videos the organization produced after its emergence in 2014.

The video does not include narration or voice comment on the scenes it contains. This narration was usually done by some of the media operatives of the organization in the past.

The video is the first following the series of media materials the Islamic State released two weeks ago to encourage groups affiliated to it to renew their allegiance to Baghdadi.

Lack of professionals

Influential leaders inside the group have been the target of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State since the start of its operations in 2014. The coalition especially targeted media professionals inside the group.

Dozens of Islamic State media professionals have been killed since then. These professionals were instrumental in the production of the media materials of the organization.

The killing of these media professionals also led to the suspension of a large number of Islamic State media products.

According to a study by the United States Military Academy, the media machine of the Islamic worked effectively until 2018, even as by this time the organization had lost most of the territories it used to control.

The media machine started its gradual collapse after the siege of Baghuz and other villages in Syria, a siege during which most of the media professionals of the organization were killed, the academy said.

The Iraqi intelligence agency also seized a large number of media equipment that was used by the Islamic State in producing its media content.

Rusty machine

In a previous comment, the Egyptian Darul Iftaa said recent video releases by the Islamic State group prove that its media machine had been significantly weakened.

“This media machine, which used to act as a Hollywood media production company in the past, is no longer the same,” it said.

It added that the defeats suffered by the Islamic State had undermined its ability to produce its quality media content.