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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Recently, British Islamic State (ISIS) fighters have been circulating two English e-books on social media, Miracles in Syria and Martyrs in Syria. The first is aimed at recruiting for ISIS with inspiring stories of fighters' personal experiences and stories from the war zone. It glorifies ISIS fighters and their cause in Syria, portraying them as heroic yet relatable figures. The second, a sequel, focuses on eulogizing fighters, and provides a glimpse into daily life and military operations in the Islamic State.
"Miracles In Syria"
Miracles in Syria cover page
The 72-page Miracles in Syria covers many aspects of the war in Syria; it offers advice to prospective jihadis, explains ISIS dogma, justifies the ISIS fight against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and attempts to give an in-depth look at life as a Western fighter in Syria. Its cover features a dead, smiling fighter. The fighters that are the focus of Miracles in Syria are Abu Qaqa, the late Ifthekar Jaman, and Abu Layth Al-Khurasani, all from the UK. The book is undated, but the since the most recent content in it is dated March 2014, it was likely released shortly thereafter.
The account is from a South African of Indian descent who recently immigrated to Al-Raqqa, Syria with his family to become a member of ISIS. His first tweets are from late January-early February 2015, and indicate that he had arrived in Syria in recent months. Al-Hindi uses Twitter and Tumblr to discuss the Islamic State, jihadi ideology, etc. His main focus is on the process of immigrating to the Islamic State ("Hijra") and providing advice to fellow jihadis who wish to come to Syria or Iraq. However, he is careful to only communicate directly with others via messaging apps such as KiK and Wickr (a secure and encrypted messaging app that deletes all data after a set period of time). On both Twitter and Tumblr, he directs users to contact him via these messaging apps to receive more information on immigrating to the Islamic State.
Articles By ISIS Supporter: Libya Is ISIS's Strategic Gateway To Europe
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In the last few months, the Islamic State (ISIS) has made great efforts to establish a name for itself in Libya, since its official spread to the country in November 2014 (for a review of ISIS's presence in Libya, see MEMRI Inquire and Analysis report Changing Dynamics In The Global Jihad Movement (3): The Growing Presence Of ISIS In Libya, January 29, 2015). ISIS has established its reputation with, inter alia, a number of high-profile attacks against Western and Libyan targets, both government and economic. The organization has also been implementing the bloody modus operandi it has used in Syria and Iraq, as it showed in its February 15, 2015 video of the beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts it had captured in Libya.
Libya is of strategic importance to ISIS; reasons for this include the general chaos that prevails in it, as well as the abundance of weapons and natural resources, and the vast areas where training camps can be set up. Libya also bridges between Egypt and Tunisia; ISIS already has a presence in the former and hopes to reach the latter.
Islamic State (ISIS) Showcases 'Media Points' In Al-Falluja Province
On February 19, 2015, images showing several of the Islamic State's (ISIS) media points in Al-Falluja province were posted online.
ISIS employs numerous such media points in areas it controls where propaganda materials are constantly played and disseminated.
Islamic State Holds Military Parade In Sirte, Libya
On February 18, 2015, Islamic State (ISIS) supporters released images showing a large military parade that ISIS has recently held in the coastal Libyan town of Sirte.
About two dozen pickup trucks carrying armed masked men are seen in the images. Some vehicles were also equipped with anti-aircraft weapons.
Archival - British Islamist Abu Waleed Fantasizes About The Virgins Of Paradise
In a lesson posted on the Internet in September 2011, British Islamist Shahid Janjua (known as "Abu Waleed") fantasized about the black-eyed virgins of Paradise, saying that she would have 70 assistants in bed with her, all with see-through dresses. He further said: "We will put the niqab on the face of Queen Elizabeth... and of the wife of Obama" and "make Obama our slave."
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
On February 14, 2015, the Salah Al-Din province of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video featuring two French-speaking ISIS men who direct various messages to French-speaking Muslims, namely those living in France. The men reiterate the obligation for French Muslims to make hijra to the Islamic State, while simultaneously urging those who can't make hijra to carry out attacks in the West. The men note that last month's attacks in France were only the beginning, and that now the nightmare will commence. In that regard, the men urge French Muslims to kill the unbelievers in their midst with any weapon they can carry, while one speaker notes that, Allah willing, booby-trapped cars will arrive in Paris and Brussels.
The video is 9:12 long, and was released on a Twitter account.
Following are segments from the two men's messages:
First Speaker: "Fight Them [i.e. The Unbelievers], Kill Them With Any Weapon You Can Carry In Your Hands, Spit On them, Burn Down Their Vehicles, Burn Down Their Police Headquarters, Do Not Show Them Any Mercy"
First speaker
"This is a message for you François Hollande, this is a message to all those who reside in France: Know that the soldiers of the Islamic State are present everywhere, and the nightmare has just begun. You have crossed the red line by insulting the prophet of Allah... and you have insulted our dear Sheikh Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, may Allah protect him, leader of the believers, emir of the caliphate, emir of the Islamic State. Know that we are awaiting the order to blow you up, kill you and slaughter you. The nightmare has just begun. No mercy shall be [shown] towards you. Know that Islam is our honor, and that without it, we are nothing..."
Islamic State (ISIS) Video Features Beheading Of 21 Copts In Libya
On February 15, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) released, via Al-Hayat Media and Twitter, a video titled "A Message Signed With Blood To The Nation Of The Cross," showing the beheading of 21 Coptic men whom ISIS announced it had captured in Libya last month.
WARNING: GRAPHIC - Islamic State (ISIS) Cuts Off Hands Of Two Convicted Thieves
On February 17, 2015, the Aleppo province of the Islamic State (ISIS) released several images showing two men having their right hands amputated as punishment following their conviction for theft. The incident took place in the town of Dar Al-Fath in Aleppo province.
The sentence was carried out "under the supervision of a specialized medical team" in front of large crowd that included children. ISIS notes that the public display was meant as a lesson and deterrent to others.
ISIS Parades Caged Kurdish Captives In The Streets Of Kirkuk Province
On February 13, 2015 the media group Sariyat Al-Malhama, which is linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), released a four minute video titled "Peshmerga Captives in Kirkuk Province". The clip is accompanied by martial hymns of the Islamic State and shows how Kurdish prisoners, imprisoned in iron cages are led on top of pickup trucks throughout one of the cities in Kirkuk province. An excited multitude can be seen lining the roads through which the truck convoy traveled waving Islamic State flags and jeering the Kurdish captives.
Islamic State Announces Two New Provinces In Iraq: Al-Jazira and Al-Dijla
In two recent communiqu├®s, the Islamic State (ISIS) announced the establishment of two new provinces in Iraq, called Al-Jazira and Al-Dijla.
Both of the communiqu├®s begin with the following text: "In light of the expansion of the Islamic Caliphate and its rule, praise God, the Islamic State is working to establish provinces and appoint governors in order to enact the Shari'a and protect the religion and the welfare of the Muslims."
ISIS Religious Police In Libya Burns Cigarettes, Musical Instruments
On February 18, 2015, the media wing of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Barqa Province (eastern Libya) published a series of photos documenting the activities of its hesba, i.e., its religious police. One set of photos shows a group of masked ISIS members torching a pile of drums that were confiscated by the religious police (Salafi Islam bans instrumental music). Another set of photos shows the religious police confiscating and destroying a load of cigarettes.
A'maq - An Islamic State-Affiliated News Agency Active On Social Media
The Islamic State (ISIS) utilizes social media to disseminate its materials, relying on both official and unofficial media companies, as well as a cadre of dedicated supporters who disseminate its materials across the various social media outlets.
One such body that constantly reports about ISIS-related activities in Syria and Iraq is the A'maq News Agency.
A'maq Facebook page
A'maq has presence on several social media outlets.
Top Islamic State (ISIS) Forum Resumes Operation, Announces New Domain, Warns Against Fake Webpages
On February 15, 2015, the prominent pro-Islamic State (ISIS) forum the Jihadi Media Platform forum, which has been offline for over a week presumably after being targeted in a cyberattack, resumed its function via a new domain name.
In the recent issue of its English-language magazine Dabiq, the Islamic State (ISIS) published an article in justifying the kidnapping of 21 Egyptian Coptic men in Libya last month, while hinting at their fate. ISIS notes that the men were captured in revenge for the persecution of Muslim women by the "Coptic Crusaders of Egypt." In that regard, the article refers to a 2010 incident in which ISIS attacked the Catholic church of Sayyidat Al-Najat in Baghdad and killed dozens of worshippers in response to the disappearance of Camilia Shehata - a Christian woman who converted to Islam and was reportedly kidnapped and held at an undisclosed location by the Coptic Church. The case of Shehata spurred a wave of clashes at the time between Muslims and Copts in Egypt, and was accompanied by calls to target Christians and churches in Egypt and elsewhere made by prominent Salafi-jihadi figures and by ISIS itself as well. Thus, the kidnapping of the Coptic men in Libya now appears to be a continuation and manifestation of the 2010 threats voiced by ISIS. In fact, ISIS notes in that regard that at the time of the Baghdad church attack, the group was "distant from Egypt and so could not easily target the Coptic crusaders there..." However, now that ISIS has expanded to Sinai and neighboring Libya, the Copts were within its reach, making it "easy" for it to capture them. ISIS also calls upon Muslims everywhere to "spill the blood" of Copts "wherever they may be found."
The feature article of the seventh issue of ISIS's English-language magazine Dabiq, titled "The Extinction of the Grayzone", states that, since the advent of ISIS and its Caliphate, the world is clearly divided into two camps, with no gray zone between them: the camp of Islam, represented by ISIS and its supporters, and the camp of the West and its followers. The latter camp includes anyone who disagrees with ISIS, including moderate Muslims, who are portrayed as "apostates" and accomplices of the Western powers. In this context, the article denounces moderate Muslims who showed sympathy for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack, and calls to kill Muslim religious leaders who participated in the anti-terror rally in Paris (photos of two such imams appear in the article). It also attacks Al-Qaeda and other Sunni groups that have not recognized the Islamic State's authority, accusing them of partisanship and of insufficient devoutness. It stresses that anyone who has hitherto tried to remain neutral must now choose which of the two camps he belongs to.
The following are excerpts from the article:
"The grayzone is critically endangered, rather on the brink of extinction. Its endangerment began with the blessed operations of September 11th, as these operations manifested two camps before the world for mankind to choose between, a camp of Islam - without the body of Khil─üfah [a caliphate] to represent it at the time - and a camp of kufr [unbelief] - the crusader coalition... But the fiery zeal of the broken Muslim Ummah began to cool by the hazy events known as 'the Arab Spring' as well as the lack of a body representing Islam (the Khil─üfah) then."
On February 11, 2015, the Al-Qaeda Syria branch Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) released, via its Al-Manara Al-Baida' media wing a 48-minute documentary titled "The Path to Salvation in Confronting Plots." The film documents JN's narrative of territorial achievements and conquests throughout Syria and the obstacles and Western plots that it had confronted during that time. It presents Western anti-JN initiatives, for example, the mediation attempts of UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, the Geneva I and II Conferences, and the U.S. declaration of JN as a terrorist organization. The video claims that all the American and Western efforts had failed, while Jabhat Al Nusra members oppose any agreement or engagement with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and continue to gain successes and liberate extensive areas from Assad's army. The narrator notes: "The mujahideen steadfastly pursue the path of battle and jihad, because this is the only way out ofhumiliation and degradation. This is the path of salvation in confronting the plots."
Ansar Al-Furqan Warns Iranian Government: We Will Soon Carry Out Attacks Deep Inside Iran
On February 7, 2015, the Balouchi-Pashtun group Ansar Al-Furqan, which operates on the Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan border, released a six-minute video titled "A Message to the Safavids from the Mountains of Those Craving Martyrdom." In the video, the group threatens the regime in Iran that it will reach Tehran to strike it in revenge for the regime's killing of Muslims.
According to a Kurdish media report, it has emerged that retired military officers from Pakistan and several other countries are leading the Islamic State's operations in Iraq.
Following are excerpts from the report:
"Retired officers from Iraq, Pakistan and the former Soviet Union are leading the Islamic State's attacks in Iraq and Syria, [according to] Massoud Barzani, President of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region."
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
A page from Zarb-e-Momin
After the January 7 attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, a jihadist magazine in Pakistan published an article by Islamic cleric Maulana Syed Adnan Kakakhel, in which the author questioned the Pakistani government for its silence in condemning the publication of cartoons blasphemous of the Prophet Muhammad.
Former Taliban minister Mullah Agha Jan Mutasim
Former Taliban leader Mullah Agha Jan Mutasim, who in recent years has advocated that the Taliban join the electoral process in Afghanistan and was therefore expelled from the ranks of the Afghan Taliban, has called upon the international community to adopt a sincere approach towards resolving the Afghanistan problem, according to a report published by an Afghan website.
