1/ Huge: Interrogation files shared with me by @CTCWP show that ISIS leader, Amir al Mawla, betrayed at least 19 of his comrades to American interrogaters in 2008 after his arrest.
Files reveal that Al Mawla gave detailed information on ISI, AlQaeda etc.
2/ This is a painful report for ISIS leader, Amir al Mawla.
Because "tactical interrogation reports" show that the current head of ISIS betrayed at least nineteen Islamic State comrades to U.S. interrogators after he was captured by American troops in Mosul back in 2008.
3/ On top of that, the current ISIS chief Amir al Mawla, back in 2008, told the Americans the full structure of the Islamic State of Iraq in Mosul, the structure of the Sharia organization in Mosul &the structure of the admin organizations. Names, telephone numbers, everything.
4/ Twelve years ago, in 2008, Amir al Mawla was arrested by American forces in Iraq and kept in prison for a while.
In “tactical interrogation reports” the Americans basically wrote down what Al Mawla back in 2008 told them during interrogations.
5/ Because al Mawla is now, 12 years later, the head of ISIS, these papers are very important.
The documents were first obtained by the @CTCWP. They then shared these files exclusively with me.
6/ During interrogations the Americans showed the current ISIS leader, back in 2008, a large number of pictures of suspected Islamic State members in Iraq.
Al Mawla told the Americans on 25/1/2008 that he knew 19 of them personally.
7/ Al Mawla then gave a short biography to the Americans of all of the jihadi comrades he knew from the pictures. For instance: Photo 2, “ Najm or Abu Salim gave orders for his members to kill and kidnap."
Or photo 15: “I met Abu al Bashir in July 2007”.
8/ Al-Mawla also gives information to the Americans about the man in pic 18. His name: Abu Sarah or Abu Jasim abu Qaswarah.
Interesting, 8 months later, the same Abu Sarah was killed by US forces in Iraq. He was reportedly al-Qaeda’s number 2 in Iraq at that time.
9/ During interrogations Amir al Mawla admits he was responsible for whippings. Also according to the documents, al-Mawla said that during his time in ISI in Mosul he was aware of the following:
“10 kidnappings, one execution, 4 assassinations and over 10 kidnappings for ransom"
10/ This is it from me. Thank you for your attention. There is a lot of info in the Al Mawla files. So please scroll through my timeline and find 3 tv reports in English on different aspects of these files. Every report has it's own Twitter thread with details. Thank you 🙏
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1/ Hundreds protested in Damascus today for a secular state. One of the reasons for the protest was an interview an HTS official gave to a TV on women's rights. Below I’ll translate the interview. It gives clues about the ideas of the new leaders of Syria
2/ AlJadeed is a Lebanese tv channel. The official they interviewed is Obaida Arnaout. He is the spokesman for the HTS led interim government. Main topic of the interview is how the new interim government/HTS views the role of women in the new Syria.
3/ The first question they asked Arnaout was: What do you think about representation of women in ministries and in parliament?
Answer: "The matter is premature, it is left to the specialists from the legal and constitutional [fields], they will work on reviewing the structure of the state, the woman is an important element, and she is honored."
1/ As HTS (supported by Turkey) rapidly advances from the north towards Damascus, more moderate rebel groups (supported by Jordan, US) are already approaching Damascus suburbs from the south. The question is: Are both groups allies or rivals?
2/ HTS is still around Homs, 160 kms from Damascus. In the meantime, rebel groups from the south are already much closer to the capital. They are NOT HTS. They are a mix of rebels from Daraa, Suwayda & Tanf (where 200 US ground troops are stationed).
3/ The rebel coalition in the south has published a statement yesterday saying they are heading to Damascus and are against terrorism and sectarianism. This of course is clearly meant to distance themselves from HTS, which has Al-Qaeda roots and is still on the US terror list.
1/ Developments in Syria going so fast that reports become obsolete moments later.
I've reported from inside Syria since 2011 and I live in the MidEast. So, let me explain in this thread what the implications could be for Syria and wider region in case the Syrian regime falls:
2/ First, let me explain which units are participating in this offensive on the side of anti-Assad forces. Most belong to HTS. which split from Al-Qaeda in 2016. However, since 2018 HTS is designated a foreign terrorist group by the US State Department.
3/ HTS is active around Aleppo and Hama. The commander of HTS is Abu Muhammad al-Jolani. Earlier he headed Nusra Front (Al Qaeda in Syria). After HTS split from AlQaeda, he claims to have distanced himself from AQ. There is still a $10 million bounty on his head by the U.S.
1/ ISIS acted harshly against its enemies. But 400 ISIS docs now show that ISIS also mistreated its own citizens &fighters. Corruption &violence were widespread. Today, @CTCWP releases those 400 docs. I was allowed to preview them. Here my @akhbar story:
2/ The almost 400 ISIS docs are mostly messages of citizens to ISIS officials complaining about other ISIS officials.
Complaints of illegal arrests, beatings, ISIS soldiers committing theft, torture...
Complaints are from 2015 - 2017, when ISIS caliphate consisted of large parts of Syria & Iraq. Many complaints are addressed to the ISIS wali of Raqqah. Some files are from Iraq or Yemen.
3/ These documents were found by the U.S. army in Syria and Iraq. Today, @CTCWP publishes these docs. I was allowed to preview the documents for @akhbar exclusively.
1/ On June 16, @CENTCOM conducted airstrike in Syria killing an ISIS official. Btwn all the news from Ukraine & Gaza, it hardly got any attention. Even location of strike wasn't known. That got me interested. For @akhbar I started investigating. Thread.👇 akhb.ar/N79p2
2/ First, I started contacting my sources in Syria. Who heard of an airstrike that killed one man on Sunday 16, the day before Eid? And if yes, where did it happen? And was this indeed the same strike that the Americans conducted?
3/ Sources told me that somebody was killed by an airstrike nearby Afrin. Then, I spoke to @farhad_shami, head of the media center of the SDF. He confirmed it too. “We had knowledge of the [recent] operation,” said Shami. “The movements of the target were monitored. Especially during the last two days before the operation. He was moving around Al Bab, Mare’ and finally Afrin.”
1/ The last hours of a killed ISIS leader's life looked like a Hollywood movie. Not only did he escape twice, also villagers tell @akhbar US forces killed 2rebels who had nothing to do with ISIS.
2/ As the story is published in Arabic on the website of my company @akhbar, I will post the main points in English in this thread. Of course, you can also open the Arabic page and use google Translate. tinyurl.com/2t3yccaa
3/ The US raid took place last Monday around 0130 AM near Jarablus. I sent 2 sources to the area. They spoke to witnesses; neighbors, relatives &villagers. They also exclusively visited the targeted house where the ISIS leader secretly lived. This is a drone shot of that house: