Islamic State Somalia eulogizes foreign fighters
In a video released earlier today, the Islamic State’s Somali Province (also known as the Islamic State Somalia, or ISS) eulogized several of its killed fighters. The list included at least one Canadian citizen and several regional foreign fighters who were within its ranks. The video mainly featured archival footage of the group’s members in Somalia’s northern Puntland region, where the common trope of the so-called caliphate’s ‘paradise’ is played out. The jihadists were seen swimming and at the beach, while nature shots were also played as a testament to the region’s beauty. One scene also features several fighters pledging bayah, or allegiance, to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Many fighters who have been killed since ISS began in late 2015 were featured in the video. The majority of these are local Somalis, while others appear to be from Ethiopia’s Ogaden region or Djibouti – two areas with a predominate Somali population. The Somali clans and subclans of Majeerteen, Lailkase, Sh