The organization of the Islamic state depends in Iraq and the Levant “Daash” in its battles being waged against its opponents in both Syria and Iraq to impose terror on the other side , taking Alangmasien as an arm to achieve this method. The organization is trying , which observers say that the fighters do not exceed 15 thousand , to compensate the lack of numerical component compared to his opponents, by giving a concept that its elements are ready to die through doing what they call “martyrdom operations” carried out by “Alangmasyun” against their enemies. Who are “Alangmasyun” , used by the “Islamic state” to terrorize their opponents, and impose the control of the state organization on a nearly half the area of Iraq and more than a third of Syria?
The emergence of the concept of Alangmasa goes back for the first time in the vocabulary of combat operations with the start of the US war on Afghanistan in October / October 2001, where al-Qaeda has been developed to be the opposite forces against “the commandos of the US . Then came this concept again after the US occupation of Iraq in April / May 2003, it was used to describe some of the al-Qaeda fighters who carried out suicide operations inside Iraq . Then after that it was appeared in Syria after the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in mid-March / March of 2011 with the entry of al-Qaeda and allied groups such as Al-nusra Front in the battles along-side with the free army in fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army. It is now used very effectively by the organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant “Daash” , which was a dissident from the Qaeda organization, against opponents of the popular militias, the crowd and the military forces in Iraq, as used in Syria against all opponents.
Alangmasa is identified according to the doctrine of the organization of the state in Iraq and the Levant “Daash” as the one who dunks himself in the ranks of the enemy during the battle and who is the most aggressive and courageous fighter carrying out intrusions of strategic points and fortified enemy, wearing similar clothes to that of the combatant clothes of the enemy , and trying to be congruent with them in appearance , shaving their beards and have a haircut if necessary . This name is so-called “intrusion Brigades” or “special forces” in regular armies.
So, Alangmasian fighter has combat missions as to be engaged in the enemy forces and the clash with them in the depth of their fortifications in order to confuse and impact their morale , and facilitate the task of the group they belong to the intrusion and control .Usually the role of Alangmasien fighter comes after suicidal fighters , who open a gap in the front lines of the opponent through bombing or several suicide bombings, then Alangmasyun enters to complete the task of loosening the front rows of the opponent in order to pave the way for the rest of the elements of the faction to attack, and sometimes the task of Alangmasien fighters are to inflict as much as possible of casualties at the opponent, without being followed by an attack or have a field goal to achieve progress. In this case, the Alangmasyun fighters will be inside the opponent area away from the front lines. , Usually in this case , they penetrate the enemy control area and do a suicide bombing inside it ,then Alangmasyun exploited the chaos in the scene of the blast, and they attacked the elements targeted by the bombing and kill the rest and those who comes to support, to create a state of confusion at the scene of blast . Often Alangmasian fighter is fighting until to be killed.
A report issued by the British armament center indicated that the Alangmasien , as designated by “Daash” to be considered the most important weapons to the organization, since they provide the organization to engage in direct attack operations with their opponents, makes it easier for them to carry out operations of taking over on both the ground or arms.
The Centre also indicated that there is within the organization a detachment of Alangmasien, present themselves, and register their names in these battalions, and fighters are well selected to join in “Alangmasyun” divisions after a series of physical , combat and psychological tests to ensure that there is a degree of a blind obedience and loyalty to the leadership, either to carry out orders or death, The withdrawal is unthinkable in their faith.
As for the conditions of the process of selecting Alangmasa are subject to several conditions that must be available to all of it. The most important of these conditions are the enjoyment of strength and fitness , as well as a high degree of courage and do not hesitate, and make sure of absolute loyalty to the organization and its ideas, and the willingness to die for the sake of achieving its objectives,
Alangmasa is subject to harsh courses of sports training on physical fitness and endurance power under the worst conditions, which is subject to most of these exercises, carrying heavy weights. Also subject to harsh military training to increase skills to breakthrough , close fighting and hunting and how to use the element of surprise to confuse an opponent. ” and adds: “In parallel with these exercises, there are sessions from dogmatic religious lessons that increase the courage of the fighter and strengthen his will to fight, to reach deeply convinced that life and death are equal ; Death convey struggler to other better lives , and that its survival alive makes it contributes more in the killing of a greater number of the enemies of religion, “according to the doctrine of those organizations.
As for ammunition of the Alangmasa they are mostly light weapons. In some major battles may they involve with heavy weapons up to the tanks, but they are used as weapons to support Angmasien who enter the battle with light individual weapons . Alangmasa carries an individual ammunition equal to between three to five times of the ammunition carried by a normal element in the battle. Often, Alangmasa is provided with an explosive belt used as needed, ie when he was caught or when he sees of its use a great damage can be occured to the enemy to be transformed into a martyr. Alangmasa carries with him between 12 to 16 store of the individual weapon which in his possession , in addition to about a thousand to 1,500 rounds. If the individual weapon is a pistol , he carries with it more than one pistol and may be equipped with a silencer, according to the operation, in addition to the cold steel weapon as spears and knives.
The report referred to above, that Alangmasyun is not limited to dealings on the use of different weapons in military confrontations, but it includes among its members the elite engineering and minds, they are well qualified in dealing with modern technology and to penetrate the secret contacts between the coalition forces, and it is more surprising, those trained individuals are effective in the intelligence to decipher the various codes and to follow up contacts made through satellite.
However there is a difference between the concept of Alangmasa and suicidal , Alangmasa is a highly efficient fighter , wearing an explosive belt and equipped with light weapons to fight till the exhaustion of his ammunition and then blow himself up if necessary, and suicidal is a fighter element equipped with only an explosive belt or driving wheel or vehicle bombing the defense lines of security forces and blow himself up without engagement with them.
As for the most important Alangmasyun fighting in Iraq and Syria, they are, for example and not exclusively , the biggest credit due to Angmasien used by “Alnusrat Front” in the battle for control of the Aldhaif Valley Camp, and for the settlement of the battle and causing the decline of the morale of the regime soldiers who were surprised by ten of tanks and a group of Alangmasien entered their ranks and paved the way for the elements of Alnusrat front to the breakthrough of the camp and control it . According to the propaganda of Alnusrat front , that it has used 900 Angmasa element in the battle of Aldhaif Valley alone.
The largest operations that have used Alangmasien in Syria were the ones which were carried out by the ” Alnusrat Front” to blow up the officers club and tourist hotel in May / May 2012, in Saadallah al-Jabri Square, Aleppo city, which ere used by the system as HQ to his officers and soldiers. Then , three bombed cars were blown up by the bombers, before clashing of three Angmasien of “Al-Nusra Front” with elements of the system there, which led to the killing of a large number of them, as a result of the case , a confusion afflicted them after the bombing. And a large succession of news came to tell that many of the elements of the system were killed at the hands of their comrades because of the confusion caused by Alangmasyun.
And the organization of the State in Iraq and the Levant “Daash” used elements of Angmasah in its battles waged against the regime and “Free Army” and the Kurds, in August / August last year, as a battle to control the military Tabaka airport against the forces of regime , which ended in control of the airport, and operations carried out against the Kurdish people’s protection units, which were the most important Alangmasa attacks carried out by the organization in Qahtaniya and Bakarah, in April / May of this year, which killed about sixty element of the People’s Protection Units. Some Islamic-oriented factions in East Ghouta also used some Alangmasien in their operations against the Syrian regime, as in the Jobar battles.
In Iraq, the state organization in Iraq and the Levant “Daash” had carried out many Alangmasah operations and most recently in October / October of this year, a bombing suicide operation in a military barracks of the “popular crowd” in “Jereche” to within 10 kilometers north of Ramadi in Anbar east of Iraq, close to the industrial complex includes a power plant and gas plant, which was bombed by a mortar to coincide with the operation .
and resulted of this attack several casualties and injuries among the fortified soldiers in the barracks, and they finished them off after the breakthrough , and the seizure of quantities of weapons and ammunition and vehicles .
From the above it can be said a Alangmasyun elements are of the most important factors of power in the organization of the State in Iraq and the Levant “Daash,” Through it , ISIS can make achievements on the ground and media and raise the morale of its combat elements ,
As it could through the element of Alangmasa to implement combat operations on a large-scale by lifting the siege or to reduce pressure on its combat elements , taking advantage of Alangmasa in the light of what they have achieved on the Syrian arena and their involvement in the fighting in Iraq to achieve positive results, maintaining the areas under his control, as the organization depends on this type of fighters to carry out the quality of what they form of active force when breakthrough into the headquarters of the security forces and military barracks, as they are called the “elite battalion” which achieve gains for the organization in the event of involvement in battles. So to know what is the Alangmasa and reach to the way of its fight and how to engage him in the battles is not an easy matter, but it is a big challenge for those who face him.
Muammar Faisal Kholi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies