ISIS propaganda videos lose luster as group faces setbacks

BEIRUT -- The Islamic State group's propaganda machine used to be confident, promising that its self-declared caliphate would be "lasting and expanding." But in recent months, as the group's territory has shrunk, its messages have as well.

Far from the boastful, self-aggrandizing videos of the past, the group is now urging fighters to resist and not run away from the battlefield. The quality of the videos has dropped as well after some of the extremists' most prominent propagandists and producers were killed.

Slickly produced Islamic State propaganda videos shot from multiple angles with religious songs in the background used to spread fear among the group's opponents, with footage of beheadings, shootings, confessions of detainees and sophisticated attacks against their rivals.

In the videos, the group boasted that Muslims from all over the world were flocking to what they called the "first caliphate" since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a century ago.

Now the videos mostly urge fighters to be steadfast and call on the local population to join the group after hundreds of Islamic State fighters have been killed over the past months.

"The propaganda of the organization has become zero to be frank. It indicates their collapse and that the group is retreating," said Omar Abu Laila, a Syrian opposition activist now based in Germany who is originally from Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour, held by the Islamic State. "Their calls for people to join the group are signs of weakness."

A major blow came in August, when an airstrike in Syria claimed by the U.S. and Russia killed Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the group's chief spokesman and senior commander who was known for fiery speeches that used to boost the morale of fighters. In 2014, after the group declared its caliphate, al-Adnani vowed to conquer Baghdad as well as the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in southern Iraq.

Another blow came in October when a U.S. airstrike in Syria killed Wael al-Fayadh, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Furqan, who was in charge of producing highly professional propaganda videos. One of the group's main media arms, Al-Furqan Media, was named after him. He was replaced by Abu Bashir al-Maslawi, who was killed a short time later.

In late May, the founder of the group's Aamaq news agency, Baraa Kadek, reportedly was killed along with his daughter in an airstrike in the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen.

A video released last month titled Answer the Call urged young men to join the Islamic State to make up for the loss of manpower.

"What are you waiting for? The infidels have gathered around us from all over the world," it said, showing scenes of Islamic State fighters trying to persuade men in mosques and clubs to join the fight as suicide bombers.

Another titled We Will Guide Them to Our Path showed two men, one from Canada and the other from Britain, carrying out a suicide attack in Mosul. The video also tried to market the group as an organization that can produce its own weapons, such as rocket-propelled-grenades, shells and remote-controlled small vehicles that can carry mines.

"They have produced 158 videos since November ... and none of them were professional like Salil al-Sawarem," said Hisham al-Hashimi, an expert on the Islamic State who advises the Iraqi government. He was referring to a video -- Crack of the Swords, in English -- that was released days before the Islamic State captured Mosul in the summer of 2014 and was widely believed to have helped speed the collapse of Iraqi forces defending the city.

"Today ... there is nothing that differentiates between their [videos] and those of other ... rebel factions," al-Hashimi said. "It only calls for defensive operations, suicide bombings and to be steadfast. Nothing more."

Despite the battlefield setbacks in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has been quick to claim responsibility for recent overseas attacks in Britain, Iran and elsewhere. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said five assailants in the twin attacks last week in Tehran had previously fought for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and the Aamaq news agency released a 24-second video purportedly filmed inside parliament during one of the attacks.

Besides Aamaq and Al-Furqan, the group has a number of media outlets to spread its message, as well as an online radio station, Al-Bayan, and online weekly magazines, Al-Nabaa and Dabiq.

Social media networks keep closing accounts created by Islamic State propagandists, but the group has so far been able to create new ones. In one widely circulated text message on social media, followers were urged not to publish the group's link so that it wouldn't be closed because "we are being subjected to a harsh campaign."

A Section on 06/11/2017

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