The Islamic State terror group appears to be trying to show that momentum is building in support of its new leader, distributing photographs of fighters from various provinces and affiliates swearing allegiance.Since Saturday, IS media officials have posted a series of photos showing fighters from five of the group’s affiliates gathering to pledge bay’ah (allegiance) to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.BREAKING: FILE – The chief of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, purportedly appears for the first time in five years in a propaganda video in an undisclosed location, in this undated TV grab taken from video released April 29 by Al-Furqan media.They may also want more information about Qurashi’s true identity, to evaluate whether he can bring the same cache as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who helped guide IS from a struggling insurgency into one of the world’s most feared terror organizations.”There is also the perception that ISIS was simply gaining ground in the world of jihadism,” Daveed Garternstein-Ross, a counterterrorism analyst and CEO of Valens Global, told VOA prior to Thursday’s announcement that Qurashi is now in charge.”If the new leader is not seen as a sufficient replacement for Baghdadi, then they do face the risk of defections,” he said.Building momentum To convince affiliates, IS’s core leadership may have no choice but to find ways to securely share additional information about Qurashi, who for now is known to Western officials only by his kunya, or nom de guerre.There may also be questions about why, for now, IS has only released still photographs, in contrast to a series of videos the group released in June of IS fighters and affiliates renewing their bay’ah to Baghdadi.But analysts caution IS officials would be playing a dangerous game if the photos are not what they claim to be.”Old photos, anything taken more than four days ago, would really throw ISIS media credibility in doubt (to their own base),” said researcher Raphael Gluck, using another acronym for the group.At the same time, by gradually releasing the information, the terror group’s media officials are playing to the desires of their followers.”The ISIS affiliates like the synchronization,” said Gluck, a co-founder of Jihadoscope, a company that monitors online activity by Islamist extremists. “It shows strength and ability to respond.”Early indications are that the strategy of gradually building momentum appears to be working.”ISIS supporters on social media platforms seem to have a renewed sense of belonging since the announcement of the new caliph,” according to Chelsea Daymon, a terrorism and security researcher at American University.”Supporters are definitely keeping track of what’s being written and said,” she added.
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