BAGHDAD/BEIRUT: The al-Qaida breakaway group that has seized much of northeastern Syria and huge tracts of neighboring Iraq formally declared the establishment of a Caliphate on Sunday and demanded allegiance from Muslims worldwide.
In an audio recording distributed on extremist websites on Sunday, spokesman of the militants group Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), Abu Mohammad al-Adnani declared the groups leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the caliph and leader of Muslims everywhere.
The Shura (council) of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue (of the caliphate)… The Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims, said al-Adnani.
The jihadist cleric Baghdadi was designated the caliph of the Muslims, said Adnani.
Baghdadi has accepted this allegiance, and has thus become the leader for Muslims everywhere.
Adnani called on n Muslims everywhere, not just those in areas under the organization’s control, to swear loyalty to al-Baghdadi.
Adnani said: The words Iraq and Al Sham have been removed from the name of the Islamic State in official papers and documents.
The spokesman added that the caliphate, which is named the Islamic State, will extend from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala in Iraq.
“The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph’s authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas,” said the spokesman, in an audio statement posted online. “Listen to your caliph and obey him. Support your state, which grows every day.”
It was unclear what immediate impact the declaration would have on the ground in Syria and Iraq, though experts predicted it could herald infighting among the Sunni militants who have joined forces with the Islamic State in its fight against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki led government.
With brutal efficiency, the extremist group has carved out a large chunk of territory that has effectively erased the border between Iraq and Syria and laid the foundations of its proto-state.
But the declaration, made on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, by the group owing allegiance to Takfiri ideology could trigger a wave of infighting among the Sunni militant factions that formed a loose alliance in the blitz across Iraq and Syria.
The ISIS, which was at the time Iraq’s branch in al-Qaida, barged into the Syria war in 2012, sending its forces and joined by foreign jihadis.
At first, many rebels welcomed its experienced fighters. But they quickly turned on each other in violent clashes as other rebels accused ISIS of using particularly brutal tactics and of trying to take over the opposition movement for their own transnational goals.
An opposition activist based in the northern Syrian town of Marea was quoted by Associated Press saying rebels have lost more people fighting against the Islamic State in the past year than it has against Assad’s forces. “There is a steady attrition within rebel ranks,” he said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has documented 7,000 deaths as a result of the infighting that erupted in northern Syria between the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and ISIS since January 2014.
ISIS, which has been financially and logistically backed by the West and their regional allies, is notorious for its fear campaign and ruthless crimes in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
On June 10, the group gained control of Mosul, the capital of Iraqs Nineveh Province, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
Over the past days, Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the militants, who have threatened to take over other Iraqi cities, including the capital, Baghdad. However, the ISILs advance has been slowed down as Iraqi military and volunteer forces have begun engaging them on several fronts. Trans Asia News
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
