Guardians of the Truth TV: Examining the Islamic State-Supportive Swahili-and-Luganda-Language Propaganda Ecosystem

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: This article contains descriptions of terrorism and graphic violence that some may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. 

Guardians of the Truth (G.O.T) Television Official Logo

Bottom Line Up Front

An Islamic State (IS) supportive propaganda and communications outlet has emerged on numerous social media platforms. The outlet, Guardians of the Truth TV, notably sends its messaging in Swahili and Luganda to target and appeal to large groups of audiences in East Africa and the Great Lakes Region, specifically in Uganda. Estimates vary, but for context, one source states that there are over 150 million Swahili speakers and another states there are about 6 million native Luganda speakers, mostly concentrated in Uganda. 

Map of areas where Swahili is spoken - Source

Uganda on Map - Source

The emergence of Guardians of the Truth TV comes after Islamic State Central Africa (ISCAP) released a video  which threatened attacks against Uganda and highlighted the importance of Muslims resisting the so-called "Crusaders" in Tanzania, Uganda and Congo (mostly likely DRC) through Jihad. The video also called on Muslims in Eastern, Southern and Central Africa to join ISCAP in DRC (ISCAP has also operated in Uganda and continues to threaten attacks in Uganda). It is likely that Guardians of the Truth TV emerged as a result of the official call from the ISCAP video to support the Caliphate in Eastern and Central Africa and this highlights the importance of monitoring both official and unofficial (supportive) IS social media channels. 

The group's name on its social media channels is in English, likely to draw attention from English speakers as well. English is also widely spoken in many East African countries even if it is not a lingua franca or an official language. The use of an English name may also be an attempt to elevate the group's status in the eyes of their viewers and readers as English is sometimes considered prestigious in parts of the world. 

The abbreviation of the group's name is the same as the hugely-famous American TV show, Game of Thrones, which is widely abbreviated to GOT. It is unclear whether this is a deliberate comparison or a coincidence. If deliberate, it could be an attempt to draw attention from English-speaking media audiences and to imply similarities between the struggles of IS fighters in this region of Africa and the plot of Game of Thrones. A possible comparative point between Game of Thrones and IS actions, could be the fight for the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones. This throne is the seat of power over the kingdoms in the show and could be compared to IS's ultimate goal of instilling a global Islamic Caliphate through Jihad. 

Let us now consider the content and platforms on which Guardians of the Truth TV is spreading its message. 

RocketChat

The outlet is active on Islamic State's RocketChat server. There is no doubt of the group's affiliation with IS both due to the fact that it is on IS's RocketChat server and the fact that it spreads both official and unofficial (supportive) IS texts, images, videos, voice recordings and posters etc. 

The room was started on RocketChat on 30 December 2025 with its first post on 4 January 2026. Notable content on this platform includes the following: 

- A video from an IS-supportive Instagram account that calls for Jihad, celebrates attacks against Israel, shows a baby dressed as a Hamas terrorist, shows videos of extremist Muslims addressing English-speaking crowds about why the world should implement Sharia Law and more. 

- A video of suspected IS militants in a car carrying weapons with them on their way to an attack site. 

- Arabic copies of IS's weekly magazine al-Naba. 

- Perhaps most unusual, are multiple audio and video discussions in Swahili , Luganda, and English, between pairs of members of Guardians of the Truth TV.  This content is very notable for its clear audio quality and overall professional setup. The discussions are not merely readings of al-Naba, but examinations of the entire magazine, discussing it in detail. Notably, Naba covers global IS operations and this shows again that Guardians of the Truth intend global reach. Two of the members identify themselves in an audio as Abu Asem and Abu Ibrahim while Abu Ahlaam and Abu Aaswim are two more members captured in videos. Different videos have different presenters, who have their own charismatic styles and whose surroundings vary. This most likely shows that the presenters on Guardians of the Truth TV are based in different locations, but that their overall social media outlets are managed by a central authority who posts the videos under the Guardians banner. This is a common and effective way to make it harder for the members of the group to be tracked and captured. In some of the videos, viewers speaking Luganda or Swahili call in to the show to talk with the presenters (the callers notably occasionally use English words, sometimes as filler words and sometimes just normally). This shows clearly that the content is reaching the intended audience, giving insight into the informal spread of IS propaganda in this part of Africa. 

- Audio recordings of speeches made by a person the group says is called "Sheikh Abu Ubaida". This almost certainly refers to Sheikh Abu Obaida Badir Diin Bukenya, the overall coordinator of domestic terror cells, according to the Uganda Police Force. 

Source

RocketChat is the most secure platform where the group is operating, encouraging members in the server to join its rooms and channels to support IS online and to do their duty as Muslims. It is important to note that in the modern day, IS-supportive chat rooms frequently highlight that one does not need to fight on the ground to support the Caliphate and that digital warriors can also do their part by spreading IS propaganda online to recruit new followers and to inspire attacks. 

We have previously mentioned RocketChat numerous times in this blog and it is clear that this is an incredibly important communications platform for IS. 

TikTok

The group's use of TikTok clearly indicates an appeal to the youth since TikTok is highly popular among children and young adults and through a video on the group's page sending a message directly to the Muslim youth. The video pictured below is in English and the speaker identifies himself as Sheikh Abu Bardizbat, saying that his honorific is Ibn Rahman. He states he comes to the viewers as a friend, colleague and advisor. 

The video was posted on 11 December 2025 and the speaker specifically states that he sends well wishes to the viewers during the "festive season", which in English, is usually reserved to describe the time around Hanukkah and Christmas. Next, he says that he calls on "kids" and "parents", who have nothing to do during the holidays, to use their smartphones to be closer to Allah. He states that the phones are a direct way to make one enter Jannah (paradise/heaven) or "hellfire". 

His speech continues with very obvious conspiratorial rhetoric, where he says that "we are going through the Islam that is organised by the American syllabus". He then implores viewers to go onto all the social media channels, (he does not mention RocketChat at all), and to search for Guardians of the Truth TV. He continues that viewers should do this, because these are the only channels where "Islam is speaking the Truth" [i.e. the truth of Islam is being spoken]. 

He once again implores the viewers who "may need to enter paradise" to follow the group "for the sake of [their] religion". He states that his aim is for Guardian of the Truth TV to reach the entire world, as stated in the above analysis about global reach. IS suicide bombers and attackers are motivated by the fact that they may "enter paradise" and it is notable to see the physical world and social media world overlapping in this rhetoric, as is common in official IS propaganda. 

It should be noted how he emphasises over and over again that the youth will be told the truth about Islam through Islamic scholars as Islam was revealed by the Prophet and not "as organised by the American government". The role of the Quran in Islamic radicalisation can never be understated and should be prioritised in counter-radicalisation strategic communication strategies. 

One person left a notable comment on the video, calling the group and the speaker out as terrorists: 

Additional notable content includes: 

- A "message to Museveni", the Ugandan President. This echoes the ISCAP video mentioned earlier, in which Museveni was also specifically described and framed as a target to be overthrown by ISCAP. 

- The advert of the first edition of their magazine named Amazima which means Truth in Luganda and contains the IS flag on the cover alongside a weapon. The second page of the magazine is also visible, showing that it contains summarised content from Naba and snippets from the aforementioned ISCAP video. It is not pictured here because it contains highly graphic images. 

- At least one other IS-supportive account liked a post on their TikTok page, showing that they are already drawing attention from like-minded users on TikTok and thus slowly becoming part of the larger IS-supportive online ecosystem. 

Facebook

The group's Facebook page contains the same videos of lectures of Islam and discussions of Naba that are described above. However, viewers immediately note images of Sheikh Abu Bardizbat (who made the above mentioned TikTok video) on the Facebook page. He appears to be the Spokesperson for the group and the images of him are AI-generated, which is not something we saw on the other platforms so far. The images were posted on 2,3, and 11 August 2025. 

One of the captions (in Luganda) of one of the above images dated 11 August 2025 reads: Thank you for welcoming us friends thank you for following us we arrived safely and alhamdulirah [alhamdulillah] now it is time to go home". There is also a poster on the page advertising an in person presentation of Issue #507 of Naba on 11 August 2025 at Masjid Noor. It shows the contact email of the group and that the presentation would be live streamed on their associated Instagram and YouTube channels.  At the time of this report, the live stream could not be located and it is likely that they changed their minds about the stream in order not to draw attention to their whereabouts through geolocation of the mosque that would be shown during the stream. Due to the large amount of mosques called Masjid Noor in Uganda, it is unclear at this stage where the presentation happened. Nevertheless, it is imperative to note that the group has an ongoing on-the-ground recruitment campaign. 

YouTube

At the time of writing, the group's YouTube account has been suspended. This is not surprising because every-so-often, social media networks manage to remove one or two extremist channels. It is likely that the group will eventually move to more secure and unmonitored platforms to avoid having to create new accounts on monitored social media spaces. 

Telegram and WhatsApp

The group's Telegram channel is full of the same preaching videos mentioned throughout this piece and it is also a hub for it to share all its other channels. Most notably it also has a link to the group's WhatsApp Group where users join through an invite link. WhatsApp is arguably the most effective and easiest way for them to directly contact their followers depending on the security settings of the group. For example, if the group's settings show phone numbers of all the members, this is a very direct way to simply message a member and get in touch with them for further recruitment. WhatsApp is also very personal, through direct messaging on a platform that people use to communicate with their family, friends and immediate community. This means that the Guardians can form close, personal relationships with potential recruits which forms a breeding ground for the group to grow quickly and without drawing attention on social media. The opposite side of the coin of this is that it could be a very effective counter-terrorism tool. 

Instagram

The group's Instagram page contains the usual videos, but interestingly has a link to a Facebook account in its bio. This account is for a person named Sheikh Kalungi who lists his contact information as the Guardians Instagram page. At this point it is not clear which Sheikh with that name is the owner of the account because Kalungi is a common surname. 

A highly notable occurrence on the Kalungi Facebook page is comments from an account called AI Intelligence, for whom a full investigation is out of scope of this report. Nevertheless, one comment from AI Intelligence in Swahili reads:

"#WEE #AREN'T #YOU #ASKING #YOU #WHY #DIDNT #GO #TO #SOMALIA #TO #CATCH #THE #MAN #TO #FIGHT!!??

#HE #REmained #a #MOBILIZER #FOR #US???⚠️⚠️

#YOU #ARE #MADE #TO #BE #A #WORLD"

This implies anger and frustration for IS supporters towards Guardians about the fact that they are focusing on Uganda and countries like Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya etc. instead of Somalia. This is not unusual and IS supporters online don't always agree on which theatres of operation official IS should be focussing on. The mention of Somalia here is very notable considering IS's ongoing campaign there. 

AI Intelligence also tags the following notable people in the comment:

1.  Khamisy Mtukasi with the following profile picture, clearly showing a child soldier. 

2.  A page called Islaam Islaam, a Jihadist profile with the following types of content: 

2.1 This hand gesture is the sign made by IS members who swear allegiance to the group. The Arabic reads "There is no God but Allah". 

A speech by Osama Bin Laden 

A post by Bin Laden against Jews and Christians. 

2.2  A very length post about Gaza that is highly conspiratorial in nature. It villainises  the USA and Jewish people inciting violence against them for the sake of Gaza. 

2.3 This profile has the below image of who is presumably the owner of the account:

2.4 There is a lot more on this profile, but this is outside the scope of this report.  

3. Ukhty Naah (Sister Naah), an account apparently run by a woman. 

3.1 It has the following profile picture with the caption "The Jihad" and contains her own Islamist content. It should be noted that the profile also contains official footage from Islamic State's propaganda outlets. The footage shows mainly attacks in different regions. 

4. A profile called Robin Khan. This profile also appears to have a woman owner. The influence of women for IS online propaganda spread and recruitment should never be underestimated. The below image from the profile shows her intent to recruit fighters.

4.1 This profile is extremely graphic and it is clear that Facebook is not winning in their war to prevent terrorists from using their platform. It contains official images and videos from IS showing executions and attacks. 

Conclusion

Guardians of the Truth TV gives us a glimpse into the world of informal IS recruitment both on the ground and online in the wake of the ISCAP video calling on people in Central and East Africa to make Hijra to the Caliphate in DRC and threatening to attack Kampala. The role of women in IS recruitment appears to continue, while it is clear that social media remains a key method for recruitment and spread of IS's ideology. We warned of the Islamic State threat to Uganda in January 2025 where we stated that "Uganda is one of the most vulnerable Central African nations to the spread of Jihadist terrorism". This remains true as ever with the emergence of an entire on-and-offline ecosystem dedicated to recruitment into Islamic State from this region and Uganda specifically. Security forces and regional governments need to recognise the importance of Uganda for Islamic State before it is too late.