The Leadership Structure of The Islamic State

Sinister and organised network that begins with 'the caliph' and continues with a rigid chain of command down to foot soldiers

From the Daily Mail:

Commanding an area larger than Britain with a population of more than four million brutally oppressed citizens, Islamic State terrorists use a strict hierarchical system to manage operations. 

Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has appointed a rigid chain of command beneath him, divided into separate councils responsible for everything from the sale of oil, to internal communications and decisions on which prisoners to execute and how. 

The highly detailed information on exactly how the terror group operates, as well as the names of Baghdadi's deputies and department heads, stems from the discovery of a USB stick inside the home of Abu Abdul Rahman al-Bilawi - the now deceased former-head of ISIS' military operations in Iraq.

While terror group Al Qaeda's central command operates using a small highly-centralized group of trusted advisers close to leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, ISIS has been able to to rapidly respond to issues and developments thanks to a team of executives with the power to act on Baghdadi's behalf. 

While Baghdadi - whose real name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarai - is the overall leader of ISIS, he is understood to have appointed two deputies to oversee operations in Iraq and Syria. Fadel Ahmad Abdullah al-Hiyali, who uses the code name Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, is understood to be in charge of operations in Iraq, while a man identified as Abu Ali al-Anbari is responsible for Syria. 

Baghdadi has also appointed a seven-man 'cabinet', with each member reporting to him directly and and advising on operational policy across the territory, according to new research by the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC). 

Included in this group of seven are thought to be Shawkat Hazem al-Farhat, who uses the code name Abu Abdul Kadr and advises on general management issues, and Abdul Wahid Khutnayer Ahmad, who calls himself either Abu Louay or Abu Ali and counsels on security, according to the Telegraph.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.