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In Photos: Islamic State Propaganda Shows Muslim Eid al-Adha Celebrations

Over the last week, dozens of local IS affiliates from Syria to Libya have flooded social media with images meant to portray life under IS control as blissful and calm.
Two brothers in the IS-controlled Syrian town of al-Bukamal via ISIS social media

The so-called Islamic State (IS) insurgency in Iraq and Syria celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha — the "feast of the sacrifice," glorifying Abraham's submission to God's order that he sacrifice his son — with a blast of eerie, high-quality promotional material. IS militants now control a swath of land the size of the United Kingdom, and over the last week, dozens of local IS affiliates from Syria to Libya have flooded social media with images meant to portray life under IS control as blissful and calm.

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Many of the photos feature happy-looking children toting IS paraphernalia and weapons as they celebrated the holiday. Below, two boys in the IS-controlled Syrian city of Tabka in the province of Deir ez-Zor play with handguns in the city's market. Earlier this month, activists inside Deir ez-Zor claimed that the terror group had shut off the internet in many parts of the province. Uncensored reports of daily life in the region are increasingly hard to come by.

The IS media office in Daqib released images of children preparing for Eid al-Adha by blowing balloons in the city's market. Daqib is located in Raqqa governate — the group's center of power, and a recent target of Syrian government airstrikes.

A series of photos released by the IS media office in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Sunday showed a newly constructed amusement park. Only part of Fallujah is under IS control — huge sections of the city are battle zones, and Iraqi families report paying up to $1,500 in bribes to secure safe passage out of the city.

An IS preacher is seen below delivering an Eid al-Adha sermon in the IS controlled city of Madan in the Raqqa countryside. The militant group has centralized religious observance in the areas under it's control. Only IS-affiliated preachers are allowed to deliver religious messages.

Some IS affiliates outside its contiguous territory in Syria and Iraq also released images of holiday celebrations. Below, IS propagandists in the Libyan city of Sirte — the hometown of deposed Libya dictator Muammar Qaddafi — showed off a market full of new kitchen supplies.

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