ISIS issues print, electronic newspaper

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has issued an electronic and printed newspaper named Dabiq in Arabic and English, the London-based Rai al-Youm newspaper reported Tuesday, citing social media accounts close to ISIS.

The printed newspaper was distributed to areas in Syria under ISIS control, and the electronic version was distributed via e-mail, Rai al-Youm reported.

The social media accounts close to ISIS said a newspaper named Caliphate 2 would be published soon.

This is part of ISIS's expanding media and social media presence.

A Twitter application called “Fajr al-Bashaer,” or “Dawn of Good Tidings” (@Fajr991) is used to recruit fighters, spread the organization’s propaganda and garner financial support.

After requesting user data and personal information, the application - flagged by Twitter as “potentially harmful” - sends news and updates on ISIS fighting in Syria and Iraq.

The jihadist group has also launched a 10-page online magazine called “The Islamic State Report,” to explain how life within its state would look like and to recruit more fighters.

ISIS is also relying on advanced media production techniques to promote its propaganda, as shown in some of its high-quality videos.

In one of them, a British man identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni appeals for young Muslims in the West to join the jihadist cause in Syria and Iraq, while in another video ISIS fighters are shown implementing their version of sharia law in an unknown town in Iraq or Syria.

ISIS ensures most of its media productions are translated into as many Western languages as possible to address Western Muslims.

Peter W. Singer - director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program - told Al Arabiya News that ISIS’s increased activity on social media “in many ways reflects the new nature of media technology’s cross with warfare.”

The growth of jihadist activity on social media is in line with the wider use of the virtual space by people in general, he added.