The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Issue 179 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba', released online on April 25, 2019, highlighted the April 21 Sri Lanka attacks, which ISIS had previously claimed,[1] praising its perpetrators and presenting it as a fulfillment of ISIS's threat to the "Crusaders."
The issue's cover highlights the high number of victims in the attacks: "The Islamic State carries out its threat by killing and wounding around 1,000 Crusaders in Sri Lanka." The accompanying article notes that over 350 people were killed and nearly 650 others were wounded in the "blessed attacks." It notes the number of foreigners killed, saying that over 45 people were killed from the U.S., UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, France, China, and India.
Al-Naba' cover.
The issue included two posters that highlighted the attacks. In its weekly "harvest" poster, which gives numbers on ISIS's military operations from the previous week, the Sri Lanka numbers stand out against the rest of ISIS's operations in other regions. Another poster, titled "The Sri Lanka Raid," highlights the "acheivements" of the attacks, noting especially the large number of causalities, among whom were citizens of "Crusader coalition countries."
ISIS's weekly "harvest" poster noting (in yellow) the high number of "Crusaders" killed and wounded.
"The Sri Lanka Raid" poster.
In a separate article, ISIS praises the attacks while collectively referring to "1,000 killed and wounded" in them as "belligerent Christians." The article rehashes ISIS's official claim of responsibility and the photo of the attackers, which ISIS had also released.[2]
The issue's editorial praises the attacks and their perpetrators and says that it is a testimony to Allah's promise to support his sincere believers and establish His religion on earth. The editorial laments those who left the path of jihad under ISIS's banner, while praising those, like the Sri Lanka attackers, who carried out such "blessed" activities after "joining the group of Muslims" and pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.[3] The timing of the Sri Lanka attacks is also highlighted, with ISIS saying it came when "the unbelievers and apostates thought that they eliminated the Islamic State by destroying the abode of Islam, killing its inhabitants, and capturing some of its mujahideen."
The article notes that the Sri Lanka attacks and other attacks as well were "merely a part of the victory we witness these days" in various parts of the world, where Allah facilitates the work of the "Caliphate soldiers" and where jihad is appearing in new arenas. The article reaffirms that these attacks serve as a testimony to the failure of the "Crusader campaign" against the Islamic State, which, it says, is more worrisome for the "unbelievers and apostates" than the outcome of the Sri Lanka attacks itself. The article reiterates that the support of Muslims "to their state" shall never end "no matter how hard the polytheists try to sever it."
[1] See MEMRI JTTM report UPDATED – ISIS Claims Responsibility For Sri Lanka Attacks, April 23, 2019.
[2] See MEMRI JTTM report UPDATED – ISIS Claims Responsibility For Sri Lanka Attacks, April 23, 2019.
[3] See MEMRI JTTM report ISIS's A'maq Agency Releases Video Showing Perpetrators Of Sri Lanka Attacks Swearing Oath Of Fealty To Group Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, April 23, 2019.
