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Day after Pak bombing, PR video by Islamic State aims to show civilian support

The latest video from Khorasan is reminiscent of similar propaganda videos from Syria.

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Devotees are silhouetted as they gather at the tomb of Sufi saint Syed Usman Marwandi, also known as the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, after Thursdays suicide blast, in Sehwan Sharif, Pakistans southern Sindh province, February 17, 2017.
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A day after the Islamic State (IS) took responsibility for the deadly blast at the famous Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan, killing 88, the militant group indulged in a public relations exercise through a propaganda video, 'Life under the shade of Caliphate’ from the Khorasan province in the Afghan-Pak region.

The IS in the Khorasan province is actively attempting to balance its image as a violent terror organisation to that of 'soldiers of the Caliphate', ridding the world of apostasy, spreading its puritanical form of Islam and imposing Sharia law as a means to bring Islamic rule through military conquest. 

In Iraq and Syria, the IS won public support by distributing aid and food supplies and swiftly moved to take over the governance of the civilian population in accordance with Sharia law. The group’s Khorasan branch is now trying to replicate this strategy in the Af-Pak region.

The latest video from Khorasan is reminiscent of similar propaganda videos from Syria, complete with glossy photographs, local life, civilians praising IS militants as soldiers of the Caliphate and ample presence of young children.

Divided into three parts, the video shows the objectives of the ISKP— erasing polytheism and Shirk practices, imposing Sharia law and governance, and promoting the new generation as fighters, and what it aims to achieve, viz. establish a Caliphate. 

Images of kids in seminary shouting the group’s slogan 'Baqiya wa tatamaddad (Remaining and expanding)', and civilians welcoming the presence and expressing their support for the IS are part of the soft propaganda by the group making a case for the Caliphate.

The latest video is an attempt to show the other side of the militant group, usually known for its brutality. 

The eastern provinces of Afghanistan in Nangarhar and Kunar, where the IS has a significant influence, is its major strategic advantage. Both districts are on the opposite side of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The porous border allows unchecked movement and has several jihadi militant groups operating in Afghanistan. The Jalalabad highway in Nangarhar, linking Kabul to the west, and Peshawar, Pakistan, to the east has also helped the network.

In its latest update, the UN analytical and sanctions team estimates that since announcing its presence through ISKP in 2015, the group has lost control of nine districts and is down to three-and-a-half districts in Afghanistan.

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