May 11, 2015

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s leader, sustained serious shrapnel wounds two months ago that left his spine damaged and his left leg immobile, jihadist defectors say. He is said to be mentally alert and able to issue orders, but the Islamic State’s governing Shura Council is to decide on a temporary leader from among three IS leaders, two Iraqis and a Syrian. Abu Ala al-Afri is one of the nominees. A second Iraqi contender is Abu Ali al-Anbari, a former major general in the Iraqi army who has been in charge of overseeing Islamic State territory in Syria. The third nominee is a Syrian, the current IS governor of Raqqa, Ali Moussa al-Hawikh.
Activist Ahmad Abdulkader, who debriefed the defectors, said there has been a dramatic decrease in foreign recruits to the Islamic State. “There used to be each week 100 to 200 foreign recruits arriving in Raqqa [in Syria]; now there are five or six every week. The foreigners inside are communicating to their friends back home not to come and they’re explaining the reality of what life is really like inside.”  (Daily Beast)