Islamic State Publishes Pictures Claiming Control Over Parts Of Sinai

TEL AVIV — Wilyat Sinai, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State organization, has published propaganda photos purporting to document everyday life in areas of the Sinai Peninsula under IS control.

The terrorist group is clearly attempting to use the photos to claim that despite difficult battles and reports from the Egyptian army that the organization has suffered heavy blows, its people are managing to deal with the Egyptian military operations and even lead normal lives in areas ruled by IS.

In some of the photos, organization members can be seen enforcing Islamic sharia law against those who do not respect IS rule. The organization’s police are also seen in the photos erecting road blocks to search vehicles, as well as inspectors checking merchandise in stores to ensure it is not past its expiration date.

The organization’s inspectors check that graves in cemeteries have been established according to sharia. Organization members are also shown in Sinai practicing dawa, the proselytizing of Islam.

Meanwhile, outside Egypt, in the Iraqi city of Alqaem, residents can be seen trading in seasonal fruit as it is brought down to the markets. In other photos from the city, the organization showed locals celebrating the fast month of Ramadan.

In Raqqa, the organization’s capital in Syria, around which battles are raging with the international coalition led by the United States and Kurdish forces, and against the Syrian army on a different front, IS members can be seen burning a large number of cigarettes and tobacco that were confiscated from stores.

In the Syrian city of Almayadeen, the organization published photos of its people as they worked to rebuild buildings and infrastructure that were damaged in bombings by the international coalition.

The emphasis in every photo was on the claim that despite the difficult war being waged against IS, life in areas under its control and that of its Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is continuing as normal.