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 [email protected] with "Membership" in the subject line.)
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On January 8, 2015, the Somali Al-Qaeda affiliated group Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen released a video documenting its operations against the country's judicial and legislative systems at various times in 2013 and 2014. The video features two Western Al-Shabab fighters: a Canadian-Somali fighter named Farhan (Mahd Ali Duri), who participated in the attack against Somalia's main court complex in 2013, and an American-Somali fighter named Ibrahim 'Abd Al-Rahman Muhammad, who led the May 2014 attack against Somalia's parliament in the capital Mogadishu.
Farhan
Ibrahim 'Abd Al-Rahman Muhammad
The video, which is 44 minutes in duration, and was released on Al-Fida' forum, begins with the justifications for Al-Shabab's targeting of the abovementioned government bodies. For example, Al-Shabab accuses the legislative system, which is embodied in the parliament, for governing according to manmade laws, rather than shari'a, while at the same time criticizing the judicial system for implementing those laws (Al-Shabab claims that the parliament is a parliament of apostasy.)
Hafiz Saeed Khan, Emir of ISIS for Khorasan Region
In a video posted on the Internet, ten Afghan and Pakistani jihadist organizations have sworn fealty to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The militants also chose Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai as the first emir of ISIS for Khorasan, a wider region that includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, India and others. Hafiz Saeed Khan was the commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for Orakzai Agency, one of the seven lawless tribal districts of Pakistan, before joining ISIS.
Canadian Islamic State Fighter Reportedly Killed In Kobani
On January 14, 2015, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Twitter account reported that Canadian ISIS fighter Abu Anwar Al-Canadi was killed in Kobani. Al-Canadi, aka John Maguire, appeared in a December 2014 ISIS video where he threatened attacks on Canadian soil. Killed along with Al-Canadi was Abu Sa'd Al-Dagestani, according to the same source. Al-Dagestani appeared in the recent ISIS video that depicted the execution of two spies by a young child, where he delivered a message.
The following is a statement on the January 7 attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the umbrella of Afghan Taliban groups:
"A few years ago several immoral individuals in France published cartoons of the beloved Prophet of Islam - peace and blessings be upon him - and termed it as freedom of speech, aggravating the sensitivities of the Muslims worldwide while also lifting the veil from the Western heretical culture. An attack was carried out last week, bringing the perpetrators of the obscene act to justice. However, blasphemous notions against the great Prophet of Islam - peace and blessing be upon him - were again published from the same address today [January 14], once again opening the door to provoking the sensitivities of nearly one and a half billion Muslims."
On January 9, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a five-minute audio recording by prominent cleric sheikh Harith Al-Nadhari, who speaks about the terrorist attack on the office of the Charlie Hebdo weekly in Paris.
While AQAP's message was titled "A Word About The Blessed Raid In Paris," Al-Nadhari didn't explicitly claim that AQAP was behind the attack. His message rather carried congratulation for the attack and its "heroes," and a threat to France. Furthermore, when addressing the Paris attackers, Al-Nadhari does not explicitly note that they were members of AQAP nor that they were sent by it; instead, he refers to them as a "believing group of Allah's soldiers" and as "heroic mujahideen."
On January 9, 2015, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, commander of the Al-Qaeda-linked jihad group Al-Murabitun, which operates in southern Algeria and North Mali, issued a communiqu├® in which he praised the Kouachi brothers, perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, calling them "valiant fighters." He also promised that the attacks against France will continue as long as it continues fighting the Muslim ummah and refuses to withdraw from the territories it has invaded.
AQIM Praises Attacks In France, Vows Further Attacks
On January 12, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb [AQIM, aka Al-Qaeda in North Africa] issued via its Twitter account a communiqu├® in which it praised the recent terror attacks in Paris, referring to their perpetrators as three "knights of Islam" who "defended the honor of the Prophet." (The allusion to three perpetrators indicates that the reference is both to the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and to Amedy Coulibaly, who murdered the French policewoman and attacked the kosher supermarket). According to the communiqu├®, these attacks were legitimate retribution for France's military actions in Mali and the Central African Republic, as well as in Syria and Iraq (although France is not actively bombing in Syria as part of its participation in the international coalition against ISIS). It warns France and the U.S. to expect further attacks, and calls upon Muslim youth to emulate the Paris attackers by carrying out operations against these countries.
On January 15, 2015, A member of the pro-ISIS message board Alplatformmedia.com using the nickname "Arriving in Andalusia" posted a letter to forum members proposing to attack the French Aircraft Carrier 'Charles de Gaulle' and transform it into "a hotel for sharks." The author reminded readers that ISIS's "caliphate army" currently controls the Libyan port city of Derna, from which marine operations can be launched.
For the second time in less than ten days, a threat purporting to be from the Islamic State (ISIS) has been posted by someone in the bathroom of a Mumbai airport, according to an Indian media report.
According to the report, personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the country's vital installations, including airports, spotted the threat, which warns of an attack on the Republic Day (January 26). U.S. President Barack Obama will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.
AQAP-Associated Twitter Account: 'Charlie Hebdo' Shooting Was Carried Out Under AQAP's Instructions
On January 9, 2015, the" Bakhsarof Al-Yaman" Twitter account, which is associated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and in the past used to post official messages by the organization on jihadi forums, posted a series of tweets about the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris. According to the tweets, the shooting was carried out under AQAP's instructions and supervision, and the delay in issuing an official claim of responsibility is due to security reasons. The account also claimed that France had been chosen as the target in light of its overt role in the war on Muslims, and that AQAP's policy of "striking the head of the serpent" - namely the U.S., Britain and France - would continue. It took pride in the success of AQAP's English-language magazine Inspire in stimulating the mujahideen to carry out attacks and in directing them towards particular targets. In this context, the account noted that Inspire had featured a "wanted poster" of one of the slain cartoonists (i.e., Charlie editor Stephane Charbonnier, aka Charb), and advised the West to await further disasters.
On January 11, 2015, prominent Yemeni cleric Mamoun Hatem, who is affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), tweeted that Muslims who participated in, or called on others to join, the massive solidarity march that day in Paris following the terrorist attacks the previous week, should be condemned and excommunicated.
On Facebook, Indian Muslim Youths Express Support For Charlie Hebdo Attackers
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
After the attack on French weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the Indian Muslim Ekta (Unity) page on Facebook attracted some comments from Indian Muslims approving of the attack. Following is a selection of these comments made by Muslim youths:
* Naseem Ahmed - wrote in Roman Urdu: "allhamdulillah.bahut nek kaam kiya subhaanallah.dil khush ho gaya" ["All praise be to Allah, extremely pious work was done, all praise be to Allah, heart is gladdened"]
* Sohaa Ali - wrote: "very good news"
Jabhat Al-Nusra Executes A Woman Convicted Of Prostitution
Jabhat Al-Nusra in Idlib, Syria executed a woman found guilty of prostitution in a video posted to the Internet on January 13, 2015.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
Jihadi Supporters Tweet Their Reactions To French National TV 'Interview' With Prophet Muhammad
On January 11, 2015, the French national TV channel France 2 broadcast a concert in support of the victims of the January 7, 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack. A short skit of an actor playing the voice of the Prophet Muhammad and being interviewed by the TV host caused widespread indignation among the Muslim community online.
Islamic State Libyan Province Announces It Captured '21 Christian Crusaders'
On January 12, 2015, the media wing of the Islamic State (ISIS) Tripoli province, one of the three provinces in Libya that ISIS claims presence in, published images of a number of prisoners, whom ISIS referred to as "Christian Crusaders," which the group captured from various locations in the province. ISIS did not explain why it took the 21 men prisoner or what became of them. However, according to various information circulated on Twitter in response to the capturing, the men were reportedly Egyptian Copts.
On January 15, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a collection of images showing the enforcement of the hudud (Koranic punishment) in Ninawa, Iraq. The images show the execution of two men convicted of homosexuality by throwing them from a tall building; the crucifixion of two men convicted of armed theft; and the stoning of a woman convicted of adultery.
This is the second confirmed case of ISIS executing gay men by throwing them off a tall building. In December 2014, ISIS executed a homosexual in a similar way.
On January 15, 2015, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Al-Raqqa published several images showing young children training with toy machine guns. ISIS boasted that the children were the "cubs [who] grew up in the land of the caliphate."
Main French Jihadi Forum Taken Down
The main jihadi forum in French, Ansar Al-Haqq, which has been active for several years and was recently under the administration of Islamic State (ISIS) French-speaking jihadi fighters, has been taken down and likely hacked following the terrorist attacks in Paris in the second week of January 2015.
On January 11, 2015, a Dailymotion account called Baqya (a reference to ISIS) posted a seven-minute video of "Abu Basir 'Abdallah Al-Afriki," namely Amedy Coulibaly, who perpetrated the January 9 attack in the kosher supermarket in Paris and murdered a trainee policewoman in Montrouge on January 8. The video, titled "Soldier of the Caliphate," shows him pledging allegiance to ISIS and preparing for the attacks. It also features several segments in which he speaks to the camera and justifies his actions. Sitting with an ISIS flag behind him and a rifle beside him, he says: "What we are doing, avenging the Prophet, is completely legitimate, deserved and timely. You attacked the Caliphate, the Islamic State, [so] you are being attacked. You cannot attack and [expect] nothing in return."
