Iraq Crisis: Isis Launches Online English Magazine to Recruit Western Jihadis

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) has started using an online English language magazine to promote their attacks and attract western jihadis to Iraq and Syria.

The Islamic State Report, a ten-page publication, has picture captions such as "Rounded up for the slaughter" accompanied by pictures of Isis militants pointing guns at a group of captives.

It uses history as a pretext to their holy war in both Syria and Iraq, speaking of the injustices created by the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement - which divided the Ottoman Empire's spheres of influence between Britain and France - after the First World War.

"It was 98 years ago that the Allies of WWI forged a secret agreement to carve up the territories of the Muslim lands," the publication reads.

"They would form a symbolic precedent for subsequent partitioning of Muslim lands by crusader powers. Years after the agreement, invisible borders would go on to separate a Muslim and his brother, and pave the way for ruthless, nationalistic tawaghit [idolatry] to entrench the ummah's [Muslim world's] division rather than working to unite the Muslims under one imam carrying the banner of truth."

The group seeks to create an Islamic caliphate which is based on sectarian divisions as opposed to the borders created by the European agreement.

The publication condemns the "notion of patriotism towards a piece of land demarcated by imaginary lines on a map" for rendering the notion of an Islamic caliphate an "exotic fantasy" and less and less "an attainable goal."

As the group has advanced through Iraqi's northern regions, their electronic efforts have doubled via their al-Hayat media wing with a number of high-quality videos emerging.

The Islamist group's campaign of propaganda has included a newly-released video entitled, "There is No Life Without Jihad" where five of the group's Mujahideen, from Australia and the United Kingdom, pledge to take their holy war to Jordan and Lebanon.

As well as the Islamic State Report publication and the recruitment videos, Isis has used a Twitter app named "dawn of glad tidings" to boost the numbers of messages it is able to send out to its followers.