The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock – among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.)
Note to media and government: For a full copy of these reports, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email.
MEMRI TV EXCLUSIVE: Jihadists Reveal Plans To Attack Winter Olympics In Sochi, Russia
Following are excerpts from an appeal by Emir Saladin, a Jihadist volunteering in Syria, to the Muslims in the "Caucasus Emirate." The video was posted on the Internet on July 31, 2013.
Emir Saladin: "If you cannot wage Jihad in the mountains, wage it in the plains, but if, for some reason, you cannot do that either, then go to Moscow, to that hornet's nest of heresy, and wage Jihad there.
"You can choose any city in Russia you see fit, not only Moscow. Ultimately, you should prepare for the [winter] Olympics in Sochi. There are concrete instructions from our Emir Dokka Abu Uthman to do so."
[…]
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
In an August 11 letter to imprisoned mujahideen everywhere, posted on Al-Qaeda's website Al-Fida, Abu Basir Al-Wuhaishi, the head of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), urges the prisoners to be patient and steadfast, as they have been trained to do, and promises them that very soon they will be freed by their mujahideen brethren who are toppling oppressive regimes daily. He emphasizes that the mujahideen are on the verge of attaining victory and restoring the Caliphate. It is plausible that the letter is intended particularly for mujahideen incarcerated in Yemeni and Saudi jails, against the backdrop of the recent jail breaks in which Al-Qaeda members escaped from prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The letter was issued by Al-Qaeda's official media company, Al-Fajr.
Flouting Al-Zawahiri, Prominent Jihadi Cleric Backs Al-Baghdadi
In a surprise move, a prominent Salafi-jihadi cleric has taken a side in the dispute between Al-Qaeda leadership and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Previously, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri ruled in favor of Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) in its quarrel with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) led by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Al-Zawahiri assigned JN full command of the jihad front in Syria, and ordered ISIS to focus exclusively on its war in Iraq. Openly defying Al-Zawahiri, Al-Baghdadi declared that ISIS would remain and wage jihad in Syria despite the Al-Qaeda leader's orders. Both sides to the dispute invested in major propaganda efforts targeted at jihad supporters online and on the ground in Syria, and recruited support from clerics and prominent figures in the jihad movement.
As part of this competition a senior member of the Minbar Al-Tawhid wal Jihad website, Abu Humam Al-Athari, published an essay supporting Al-Baghdadi, titled "Extending Hands to Pledge Loyalty to Al-Baghdadi". Al-Athari's intervention is unusual for a cleric particularly when he totally ignores Al-Zawahiri's directive. In his essay Al-Athari expansively extols Al-Baghdadi and justifies his takeover of the jihad in Syria. He urges the Syrian people and the local jihad fighters to pledge their loyalty to Al-Baghdadi and join ISIS.
In mid-July 2013, an Urdu-language jihadi published more than two dozen high-definition images of what it called "Rohingya Mujahideen" – with a note that indicates that the Pakistani Taliban have successfully established a jihadi unit of Burmese Muslims. In the images, Burmese Muslims can be seen undergoing combat training.
It should be noted that the Rohingya Muslims have been in international headlines over the past year after they were attacked by the majority Buddhists in Burma, now known as Myanmar. Hundreds of ethnic Rohingya Muslims have been killed and thousands have been displaced due to the attacks by Buddhists. From the images, it appears that the Rohingya Mujahideen are comprised of 100-200 fighters who are seen dressed in military fatigues and undergoing shooting practice.
ISIS Issues Newsletter Documenting Its Military Operations In Iraq
On August 13, 2012, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) released the Al-Naba' ("The News") newsletter which documents the group's military operations in Iraq throughout 2012. The 198-page newsletter provides detailed accounts of all of ISIS's military operations in Iraq divided into two categories: geographical regions, and type of operations.
Split Among Caucasian Fighters In Syria
'Omar (left) and Sayfullah (center) before their falling out
A message recently issued by the Caucasian detachment in Syria reveals that a split has occurred within its ranks. This detachment, called Jaysh Al-Muhajireen Wal-Ansar ("The Army of Emigrants and Supporters", henceforth JMA), consists of Chechens, Dagestanis and others, and is headed by Chechen commander 'Omar Al-Shishani. It is known to be loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), under the leadership of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The message, which was posted August 3, 2013 on a website affiliated with JMA and is titled "Clarifications regarding the Fitna," reveals that 'Omar's right-hand man, the Chechen Sayfullah Meclikaev, has split off from the group with a group of followers. Sayfullah Meclikaev presented his side of the story in a video posted the next day.
In an interview, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the chief of militant group Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan, accused the U.S. of seeking to divide Afghanistan by keeping its troops there after 2014, and thus the Afghan war will continue. Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan is the second largest militant group after the Afghan Taliban.
Hekmatyar, who has held negotiations with Afghan government as well as with U.S. officials in recent years, remains underground. In a video interview, he warned that the war would continue if the U.S. continues to maintain troops in Afghanistan after 2014. The video was uploaded to YouTube by his aide and member of Hizb-e-Islami's political board, Engineer Abdul Karim.
Interestingly, when mentioning Pakistan, Hekmatyar uses the subject "this country,' confirming his presence there. Most leaders of his party are known residents of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Below are excerpts from the interview:
"Obama Has Repeatedly Said That U.S. Troops Will Be Withdrawn By The End Of 2014, Yet… The Generals Say Some Troops Will Remain In Afghanistan... They Are Pressuring Their Puppet Government In Kabul To Sign A Judicial Immunity For Those American Troops"
Question: "What do you think about the security situation of Afghanistan after 2014?"
Defecting soldier Ghazi Lumber Khan sits alongside the other defecting soldier who helped him escape
The Al-Emara jihadi studio of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the shadow government of the Afghan Taliban) has release a video of an Afghan Nation Army (ANA) soldier who killed a Slovak soldier and wounded six more on July 9, 2013 at a base in Kandahar province, and escaped from jail with the help of another ANA officer.
The ANA soldier, who helped the inside attacker escape from jail, can also be seen in the video, titled "Afghani Heroes 2," giving an interview and expressing his feelings and reasons that led him to facilitate the escape of inside attacker.
Masked Taliban fighters are seen hugging and garlanding the ANA defectors in the video, while the background commentary says that the two ANA troops were serving at the Kandahar International Airport, a NATO military facility, and had prior contacts with the Taliban.
Taliban Website: Afghan Soldier Who Attacked Australian Soldiers In 2011 Killed In Takhar Province
One of the official Urdu websites of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government led by Mullah Mohammad Omar) reported that Muhammad Rozi, an Afghan soldier who attacked Australian soldiers in 2011, has been killed.
The Taliban website describes him as a Ghazi, an honorific used for someone killed while fighting an Islamic war. The title Shuja, or brave, is also used with his name. It states: "[T]he cruel American forces raided the house of Shuja Ghazi Muhammad Rozi on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in the Takhar province's capital city of Aibak... and were confronted with the normal bravery of a courageous mujahid, provoking fighting that lasted two hours, and according to confirmed reports resulted in eight American soldiers being killed and several being wounded."
Unknown Shi'ite Lebanese Organization Claims Responsibility For Abducting Turkish Airlines Pilots
On August 9, 2013, two Turkish Airlines pilots were abducted by eight gunmen while on their way from the airport to downtown Beirut. It should be mentioned that the bus taken by the air crews passes through the Dahiya, Hizbullah's stronghold in the southern part of the city. The kidnappers stopped the bus on Cocodi bridge, some 50 meters from a military checkpoint, seized the two pilots and took off in an unknown direction.
'Majlis Shoura Al-Mujahideen' Claims Responsibility For Rocket Attack On Eilat
On August 13, 2013, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Majlis Shoura Al-Mujahideen (MSM) claimed responsibility for firing a Grad rocket on Eilat earlier that day. According to reports on Israeli media, the rocket was fired from Sinai and was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-rocket system.
According to an August 8, 2013 announcement by the Saudi interior minister, the kingdom has arrested two individuals who were in contact with Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) and who planned to carry out suicide bombings. The minister said that the two were connected to Al-Qaeda's recent threats to target foreign embassies in Saudi Arabia and the region.
In his annual statement to Muslims on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emir Hakimullah Mehsud urged Muslim youth to launch "armed battle" to help the Muslims of Burma and Syria, and said that he is willing reconsiders talks with Pakistan.
The statement, written in Urdu, was released by a jihadi Internet forum on August 14, six days after Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. It was produced by Umar Media, the broadcasting and publications arm of the TTP.
In it, he states: "I appeal to self-respecting Muslim youth to get ready to help the oppressed [in Burma and Syria] and launch musallah qital [armed battle] as per the Koranic decision [in this regard]."
