Islamic State restructures regional branches in Syria, Iraq
New York, July 24 : The Islamic State (IS) has made changes to the way it refers to its regional branches in Syria and Iraq, in a likely indication that the outfit has made internal structural changes after losing territory in 2017.
The Islamic State dropped the term "Wilayah", meaning official branch or "province", to refer to areas within Syria and Iraq which had previously held the status of separate "provinces" -- such as Damascus, Raqqa, Kirkuk and northern Baghdad, BBC citing SITI reported.
The term "Wilayah" is now being used to describe the larger territories of Syria and Iraq -- the "Wilayah of Sham (Syria)" and the "Wilayah of Iraq", regional designations that the IS had not used before.
The changes were first spotted in the latest edition of the group's weekly Arabic-language newspaper al-Naba on July 20. But there was no fanfare and the IS made no announcement of the changes.
Since then, claims of attacks within Syria and Iraq have been attributed to "Wilayah of Sham" or "Wilayah of Iraq".
In a video released by the IS in July 2016, the group set out the administrative structure of what it termed as caliphate. It said the Wilayat (plural of Wilayah) were established following the group's expansion in order to "create effective ways to administer and supervise its territory".
The report said that the latest changes to the official status of the regions reflected a restructuring following territorial setbacks in 2017, with each of the regions within Syria and Iraq no longer requiring its own governor or ministry offices.
It was not clear whether countries such as Libya, Yemen or Saudi Arabia underwent a similar restructuring process.
The group did, however, continue to refer to its Egypt branch as the "Wilayah of Sinai" and for the first time described its affiliate in Southeast Asia as a Wilayah -- effectively upgrading its status, possibly as compensation for the downgrading of regions in Syria and Iraq.
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Shivakumar urges centre to intervene on Alamatti dam height issue
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday urged the Centre to intervene and allow Karnataka to raise the height of the Almatti dam across the Krishna river.
He also said that he will lead an all-party delegation to Delhi in this regard.
Noting that all three states -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra -- have opposed the project, he said the Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Centre not to allow Karnataka acquire land for the proposed project to increase the dam's height from 519 meters to 524 meters.
"Andhra Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking it to refrain from giving any approval or gazette notification that allows Karnataka to carry out land acquisition for the proposed project stating the matter is pending before the Supreme Court," Shivakumar, who is also the state's water resources minister said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Union Water Resources Secretary has sought Karnataka's response. "We will reply to it after consulting legal experts."
"I did not expect Andhra Pradesh to react this way. (Andhra Pradesh CM) Chandrababu Naidu is an experienced politician; he is aware of everything, but they are now putting such pressure on the centre. I'm unable to understand this," he said.
Noting that the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) award permitted Karnataka to raise the dam to 524 metres and that there was no stay from the Supreme Court, the Deputy CM said and appealed to the Centre to act in accordance with earlier orders.
He also appealed to all the parliament members of Karnataka to put pressure on the central government in this regard, in the interest of the state.
"I will be sending all the details and records to our MPs; we need to build pressure on the centre, Prime Minister and the Union Jal Shakti minister on the issue when the Parliament session begins on March 10," he said, adding that he also plans to lead an all-party delegation to Delhi in this regard.
Pointing out that the Karnataka cabinet, on September 16, 2025, decided to acquire 1.33 lakh acres of land for this project in one go, through consent acquisition, and planned to allocate Rs 70,000 crore for land acquisition in three phases, Shivakumar said, adding, "Now obstacles are being caused to it."
Further delays would escalate costs, he said, as land compensation has become a major burden, with courts awarding higher payouts after farmers rejected earlier offers of Rs 8-9 lakh per acre during the previous BJP government.
"After deliberations, compensation is fixed in the range of Rs 35-40 lakh per acre, with some awards reaching Rs 10 crore because of litigations," he said, adding that around Rs 20,000 crore has already been spent on the project.
Asserting that it is "our water, our land", Shivakumar said, "I appeal to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra not to interfere in this project; it is not good for you."
