ISIS in Sinai seeks to recruit media specialists following major losses

The group's affiliate in Egypt, Wilayat Sinai, has issued a call for new recruits to help create propaganda materials after army airstrikes killed many of its media elements.

By Ahmed al-Sharqawi in Cairo

2017-07-17

Egyptian soldiers carry the coffin of a soldier, who was killed in Sinai in an attack by the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' on July 8th. [Mahmoud Bakkar/ AFP]

"Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) affiliate Wilayat Sinai has suffered a shortage of media specialists following a series of recent Egyptian army airstrikes, and now the group is seeking new recruits to help create its propaganda materials.

Wilayat Sinai's media arm, al-Tawhid Media Foundation, sent a message via a social media app calling for graphic designers and writers to volunteer their efforts in service of the group's objectives.

"The group has lost a huge number of its media elements in Egypt with the recent intensification of the Egyptian army's strikes against it," said Maj. Gen. Sameh Abu Hashima, an advisor with Nasser Military Sciences Academy.

"ISIS is trying to maintain its presence in Egypt with the aim of affecting the morale of the Egyptian armed forces in Sinai," he told Al-Mashareq.

The group is seeking to recruit new elements to serve its media arm, particularly after videos of its operations garnered media attention in Egypt, he said.

Regional intelligence agencies are monitoring the group's communication and messages "to prevent them from spreading among Arab youths who can be affected by them", he said, particularly in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.

Abu Hashima said he expects Wilayat Sinai to fail in recruiting new media elements "given the Egyptian army's heavy crackdown on the group".