IS pays individuals to help it and pressures others by threatening their family members or taking them hostage in IS-controlled areas. IS also takes advantage of those who have joined the organization through religious calls made by imams and other preachers at mosques affiliated with IS.
The group of terrorists further explained that any terrorist act takes place with collaboration among groups specialized in each part of the operation. One group plans how to deliver explosive devices to a targeted area while another group executes the delivery.
The process is divided into different stages that include dismantling and reconstructing the explosive devices. Then another group accompanies the suicide bomber to the attack site.
The Jan. 11 attack was an example of a new multipronged approach IS is using called “inghimasiya,” Arabic for suicide fighting attacks. An earlier example was the Nov. 4 IS attack on a police station in al-Dibs, in eastern Kirkuk, which killed six police officers. A distinction is made between the term “inghimasi” (suicide fighter) and "istishhadi” (martyr), which is traditionally used by jihadi groups.
The suicide fighter carries bombs and guns, and is accompanied by other fighters. Together, they attack the target, kill victims or take hostages. The suicide fighter usually blows himself up in the middle of the operation, paving the way for his companions to implement the next stages of the attack, such as taking hostages, stealing documents or killing people at the scene — and sometimes withdrawing.
The suicide fighter sometimes holds off on blowing himself up to allow his companions to cause the greatest damage possible, provide a cover for their withdrawal and remove evidence of the perpetrators’ identities. Such suicide fighting attacks included the ones in New Baghdad in early 2016 and Sadr City in late 2015.
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