Intelligence chief plans global terrorism scenario of IS

The increasingly daring terrorist operations carried out by Islamic State militants abroad were largely orchestrated by Abu Mohammad al-Adnani.

Abu Mohammad al-Adnani. Screenshot from video

Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the media chief and spokesman for the Islamic State (IS) group, has been appointed as the head of the group's intelligence unit responsible for planning terrorist attacks abroad, the Times reported.

The IS intelligence unit, known by its Arabic name Emni, is made up of a number of foreign fighters, "tasked with carrying out bloody terrorist attacks around the world".

According to some reports, Emni has sent small groups of native rebels to Germany, Spain, Austria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Bangladesh to wait for the opportunity to attack.

Emni members are also believed to be behind the Paris attacks last November and the massacre in Belgium in March. Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the leader of Emni, has escaped capture by the US-led coalition and is now one of the most senior figures in IS.

Adnani, 39, whose birth name is Taha Sobhi Falaha, was born in the town of Binnish, near the northern Syrian city of Idlib. Adnani fought against the US-led coalition in Iraq and was held between 2005 and 2010. While in prison at the US-run Camp Bucca detention centre, Adnani met Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of IS.

Adnani had revealed that IS's goal was to become a governing entity rather than a terrorist group when he first publicly declared IS an Islamic state with Baghdadi as its leader in June 2014.

Adnani quickly became the official spokesman for IS and was listed as a terrorist by the US State Department in August 2014.

In September, Adnani wrote in the group's propaganda magazine Dabiq, calling on IS sympathizers, or "lone wolves," to carry out attacks inside the West.

"If you cannot find bombs or bullets, smash their heads with rocks, run them over with cars, throw them from heights, strangle them to death or poison them... If you cannot do that, then burn their houses, cars, destroy their businesses, destroy their crops. If you cannot do all of the above, spit in their faces," Adnani wrote.

In January, Adnani was wounded in an airstrike in the Iraqi town of Barwanah. He lost a lot of blood and was transferred to the city of Hit for treatment. The Syrian government is still offering a $5 million reward for Adnani's capture.

In an audio recording released online on May 22, Adnani called on IS followers to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“Be prepared, be ready,” Adnani said. “Make Ramadan a month of death for the infidels, especially in Europe and America.”

Harry Sarfo, a captured IS militant, revealed to the Times how Emni recruits and arranges members to carry out terrorist attacks abroad.

Sarfo said that Adnani was the mastermind behind all the attacks. Recruits from IS meet Adnani after completing 10 levels of training and swear allegiance to him. They do so with their eyes closed. As a result, even Adnani’s top fighters have no idea what he looks like in real life.

According to VNE