isis revista dabiq 1 | Page 28

HARVESTING THE SAHWAH Following the crusader coalition’s announcement that it had begun carrying out attacks on the lands of the Muslims, the Sahwah factions of riddah raced to offer their services to the crusaders and their regional puppets. This included sending them information on the locations of the mujāhidīn in ‘Ayn al-Islām, and likewise in Tall Mālid in the northern Halab countryside, thereby serving as the crusaders’ eyes on the ground. This made the mujāhidīn all the more determined to pay them back for their treacherous legacy, which began long before the coalition even entered the picture. The payback, as is often the case with the soldiers of the Islamic State, would be brutal and unexpected. On the 18th of Jumādā al-Ākhirah, two istishhādiyyīn, Jarrāh ash-Shāmī and Abū Bakr alKurdī, carried out attacks on the Sahwāt in the northern Halab countryside, targeting important locations in Māri’ and in Huwar Killis, where they penetrated Sahwah positions belonging to the Shāmiyyah Front1 and wrought havoc in their midst. These attacks occurred during a meeting 1 See pages 7-11 of issue #8 to read about this Sahwah coalition and its alliance with the Jawlānī front. 28 REPORT of the Shāmiyyah Front with other factions – including the Jawlānī front – to discuss expanding their war against the Islamic State. The operations succeeded in killing more than 80 Sahwah members and wounding dozens more, with multiple Sahwah leaders amongst the casualties. Shortly after, and possibly as a result of the many dead leaders, the Shāmiyyah Front began to break up, with some of its member factions leaving to form competing coalitions. {You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason} [Al-Hashr: 14]. We ask Allah to accept our istishhādī brothers amongst the shuhadā’. The heroes of Wilāyat Halab terrorize the Sahwāt