On 28 June, a New Jersey-based American woman called Maria Bell pled guilty to concealing of material support for a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organisation: namely, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. While the Justice Department's announcement was not specific on details, it emerged that she had apparently sent money intended for a person who claimed to be a fighter with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and with whom she was in love. She also apparently used her prior army experience to provide advice on military matters like training and use of weapons. Here I intend to offer some further insight into this recently convicted person and her conduct based on my own experiences with her.

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Whereas the Islamic State used to classify its operations in Mozambique under its "Central Africa province" (Central Africa Wilaya) it now places them separately under the "Mozambique province" (Mozambique Wilaya) moniker. Below is an infographic that was released in last week's edition of the group's al-Naba' newsletter, providing an overview of the group's operations in Mozambique over a recent period of 17 days. The attacks are concentrated in the country's northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula.

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https://aymennaltamimi.substack.com/p/islamic-state-operations-in-mozambique

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[Update 23 June 2022: this interview has unfortunately had to be redacted on the subject of 'muhajireen'- or 'foreigners'- in Jabal al-Summaq. Regrettably, a sincere call of advice and expression of reasonable opinion appeared to be too much for some].

Introduction

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In the following interview, a fighter with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (who is speaking in his own capacity and is not doing so on behalf of the organisation) gives an outline of his life since the unrest began in Syria in 2011 and his overview of the current situation in northwest Syria in particular. He is originally from the Latakia countryside and became a displaced person in the Idlib region several years ago. This interview was conducted on 16 June 2022. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.

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https://aymennaltamimi.substack.com/p/perspectives-on-northwest-syria-interview-2b3

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This week's editorial in the Islamic State's al-Naba' newsletter follows on from a lengthy video released by the group's West Africa 'wilaya' ('province') that not only featured military operations but also aspects of the affiliate's governance project in certain areas. As is well-known, when the Islamic State achieved territorial control in parts of Iraq and Syria, it established an administrative system based on a series of diwans (departments). The West Africa affiliate has replicated this model to some extent through the activities of the Diwan al-Da'wa wa al-Masajid (concerned with religious outreach and mosques), a Diwan al-Hisba (enforcing Islamic morality and ethics publicly), a Diwan al-Zakat (to collect zakat taxation) and a Diwan al-Qada (judiciary department, embodied in Islamic courts). These aspects, which have already been documented for some time, were on display in the recent West Africa province video.

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