‘Fighting with the tongue is as important as fighting physically’: Islamic State calls for Social Media warfare

The Voice of Khorasan magazine.

The Islamist terrorist group Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) has urged its supporters and recruits to emphasize media warfare in addition to military combat. “Fighting with the tongue is as important as fighting physically,”  ISKP stated in a new issue of their magazine.

Islamic State-Khorasan Province announced in a new edition of the organization’s English-language magazine that a deliberate focus on “social media warfare” is vital not just to progress on the ideological battlefield, but also to oppose the attraction of “enchanting” social media influencers.

In an article published online in the third edition of the Voice of Khurasan magazine, the terror outfit said, “War comes in many forms and targets different aspects of humans. A war can be fought militarily targeting physical self or it can be fought ideologically targeting intellect.”

“As much importance the physical clashes hold, ideological confrontations also matter if not more. The physical battle can be lost even before it starts if people, in our case Muslims, are defeated or at the least trapped in the battle for the hearts and minds,” the article further added.

Furthermore, it stated, “The Crusaders of the West understood the importance of the battle for the hearts and minds, and hasten to prepare to advance for confrontation on this front by opening their research centers, colleges and other forms of institutions. They funded thousands of people in the name of research for this and bought people who wear cloaks of Muslim.”

According to the magazine, despite the fact that their areas have been taken away from them, ISKP is still engaged in jihad.

Recently in March, the ISKP’s mouthpiece revealed the death of an Indian fighter. In an article, they mentioned him only by his adopted name, Najeeb Al Hindi, and described him as a 23-year-old “engineering (M.Tech) student from Kerala.” The post did not disclose any other information on Najeeb, nor did it state when he died or the circumstances surrounding his death.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia