Analysis No. 496 of the Islamic State’s al-Naba weekly.
Propaganda and operations of IS provinces
The Islamic State publishes its al-Naba magazine every week, which provides significant information on the group’s military, ideological, and propaganda activities in its provinces.
Analysing the weekly issue of the al-Naba newsletter, the Islamic State's official media product, allows one to assess the jihadist organisation's threat in operational terms.
The weekly newsletter reached number 496 last Thursday.
Operations and propaganda details
Issue 496, eight pages long, covers the week of 17 to 23 Dhū al-Qa’dah 1446, from 15 to 21 May 2025.
Al-Naba generally includes most of the statements and photos published daily over the past week on its official channels, although often with new elements or additional details, both written and photographic. However, al-Naba won’t include unpublished statements or messages.
The main infographic summarises the areas affected by military operations during the week mentioned above: Nigeria, Cameroon, Syria, Mozambique, Somalia, Mali and Democratic Repubblic of Congo.
IS claims to have conducted 18 operations in all the mentioned areas and to have caused 120 deaths and injuries.
In this issue of al-Naba, on the last page (#8) the Islamic State published an infographic showing the results of attacks conducted by ISWAP, from 6 March to 18 May 2025, on the military camps of the armies of Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.
On the fourth page, the weekly goes into detail about the type of attacks, operations and targets of the Islamic State fighters, who follow the two main strategies of “war of attrition” and “economic warfare”, in addition to others dedicated to targeting Christians and Shias. Below is a breakdown and account of the attacks by province/area: