The Life of Abu Khalid al-Hamadi of Islamic State's West Africa Province

Translation and Overview

The Islamic State’s al-Naba’ newsletter only rarely publishes biographies of Islamic State ‘martyrs’ these days. Last week the group released the biography of one ‘Abu Khalid al-Hamadi’ who was a member of the Islamic State’s West Africa province. He was involved in the indoctrination of children in the group’s training camps and also served as a military commander, playing a notable role in the Islamic State’s global ‘unified expedition’ launched at the beginning of this year in support of the Muslims of Gaza. Originally from the Borno area of northern Nigeria, he was killed following an assault on a barracks of the Cameroonian army, highlighting the cross border nature of the Islamic State West Africa province insurgency around the Lake Chad area.

I have translated the biography below, which contains typical glorification of the ideal Islamic State fighter’s qualities like steadfastness, zeal, compassion for one’s ‘brothers’ and piety. I have included some annotations with the