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.)
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On April 11, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) information bureau in Syria's Al-Raqqa province released an eight-minute video titled "Pledge of Loyalty Until Death." The video, released on the Al-Shumoukh jihadi forum and elsewhere, features an ISIS commander in Al-Raqqa province delivering a motivational speech to a group of young fighters who are about to set out for Iraq's Salah Al-Din province to aid and reinforce their fellow fighters there. In the speech, the commander promises his audience that ISIS fighters will vanquish the Crusaders and Shi'ites in Iraq, and will soon establish Islamic State provinces in Europe and reconquer Andalusia.
New ISIS Nasheed In German: 'Enemies of Allah... We Want Your Blood, It Tastes So Wonderful'
On April 14, 2015, Al Hayat, the official media company of the Islamic State (ISIS), released and a video of a new nasheed (religious song) in German sung by the rapper-turned-jihadi Denis Cuspert(aka Abu Talha Al-Almani aka DesoDogg). The nasheed, about three minutes long and subtitled in English, calls on Muslims in the West to carry out attacks there and threatens the members of the anti-ISIS coalition with death and destruction. The refrain stresses the desire to see more ground troops coming to fight ISIS directly.
Islamic State (ISIS) Destroys Christian Graves In Mosul
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On April 16, 2015, the information office for the Islamic State (ISIS) in Ninawa Province, Iraq, published a series of photos titled "Levelling Graves and Erasing Polytheist Symbols." The photos, which were posted on the Shomoukh Al-Islam jihadi forum, among other places, show ISIS members shattering gravestones with sledgehammers and defacing crosses carved into them.
ISIS Destroys Ruins Of Ancient Assyrian City Of Nimrud, Iraq
Using bulldozers, sledgehammers, and explosives, ISIS members destroyed ancient artifacts at the Assyrian city of Nimrud. In a video, posted on the internet on April 11, a spokesman said that they were removing "the symbols of polytheism" and that they would not stop until they had "destroyed the Black House in the heart of the land of heresy, America." The video shows ISIS members drilling holes in panels of carved reliefs, attacking them with sledgehammers, bulldozing the walls of the ancient city, and using explosives to blow up remains.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
The Islamic State (ISIS), which has been operating its Al-Bayan radio station for the last year, appears to have upgraded its outreach efforts to include news broadcasts in a number of other languages besides Arabic, including English, French, Russian, and Kurdish.
Leading up to the upgrade, in the last several weeks, ISIS began publishing daily links on the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum to access its Al-Bayan news broadcasts. The broadcasts, which could be either streamed live, downloaded, or accessed in a printable version, were uploaded to the U.S.-based Internet Archive (archive.org) website. A single link (in contrast, for example, to multiple URLs of various file sharing websites) is posted on the Shumoukh Al-Islam form for each daily broadcast (see below).
WARNING - GRAPHIC: Islamic State (ISIS) Beheads Man Convicted Of Blasphemy In Hama, Syria
On April 13, 2015, the Hama province of the Islamic State (ISIS), in Syria, released several images showing the beheading of a man convicted of blasphemy.
The blindfolded man is seen kneeling while an ISIS man standing next to him apparently reads his sentence. An executioner wielding a sword is seen standing on his other side.
Pro-ISIS Hacker Targets Egyptian Newspaper's Facebook Page
On April 15, 2015, jihadis on the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum reported that the Facebook page of the Egyptian Tahya Misr newspaper (ta7ya-masr.com) was hacked by a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) hacker.
The newspaper confirmed the hack on its website, "The official [Facebook] page of the Tahya Misr newspaper was hacked by Daesh [i.e. ISIS], and they are [now] calling the page (The Islamic Sinai Province)." The newspaper later announced that it regained control of its Facebook page with the help of the Egyptian military.
Pro-ISIS materials were posted on the hacked Facebook page, which had over five million likes.
Pro-ISIS Hacker Attacks British, U.S., Dutch Websites
The Twitter account "Hacker of the caliphate state", which claims to be an "electronic soldier" of the Islamic State (ISIS), claims to have attacked a large number of British websites, as well as a Dutch and an American website.
In a series of tweets over the past 24 hours, the account listed 23 British websites it claims to have attacked. The first tweet noted that the cyberattacks were a message to the "dog of the cross," British Prime Minister David Cameron, and that they represented a "bombardment by the #Islamic_State soldiers."
ISIS Hackers Take Over Popular Egyptian Radio Station's Twitter Page
On April 15, 2015, hackers affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) took over the Twitter page of the popular Egyptian music station Nugoum. The page, which has more than 311,000 followers, remained under the hackers' control for nearly seven hours, during which they flooded it with pro-ISIS tweets, propaganda videos and pamphlets, as well as links to official ISIS releases.
According to an April 12, 2015 report on the "Mujahideen News" Twitter page, which is identified with the Islamic State (ISIS), the "caliphate state" will soon issue new electronic ID cards to its residents, with "3D chips and electronic chips to prevent counterfeiting."
As Part Of Its Outreach Efforts, ISIS Distributes Memory Cards With Da'wa Content
On April 14, 2015, the Al-Janoub province of the Islamic State (ISIS), which covers areas to the south of Baghdad, released a collection of photos showing an ISIS man distributing memory cards to some locals.
The tiny memory cards, which can barely be seen in the photos, contain "da'wa" materials, says ISIS.
On April 14, 2015, the Homs province of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video titled "A Message to The People of Yemen." The video features a Yemeni ISIS fighter who calls upon Sunnis in Yemen to stand up to the Houthis and wage jihad against them. He also questions the recent Saudi airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, and says that if Saudi Arabic was genuinely interested in fighting Shi'ites, then it would have dealt with the Shi'ites on its own soil. The fighter also threatens the Houthis, and says that ISIS's verbal threats will be translated into actions. He also urges members of other jihad groups in Yemen (a reference to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - AQAP), to leave their organizations and join ISIS instead.
The video is 12:18 in duration, and was released on the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum.
Addressing Sunnis in Yemen, the fighter informs them that the Houthis have taken over Sana'a, while Sunnis have yet to do what is needed - wage jihad in order to stop them. He also reminds Sunnis that the Rafidites are apostates and blasphemous, and therefore, it is incumbent upon Yemenis to wage jihad against them.
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attack On Tunisian Soldiers
On April 9, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement on the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum claiming responsibility for the attack on Tunisian soldiers a few days earlier.
The attack occurred in the area of Ayn Zayyan in Kasserine Governorate.
"In a blessed operation, Allah enabled the caliphate soldiers in Tunisia to ambush four military Humvees [which belonged] to the army of the taghut," the statement noted.
AQAP Confirms Death Of Its Top Religious Figure, Former Gitmo Prisoner Ibrahim Al-Rubaish
On April 14, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a statement confirming the death of Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Rubaish, a top religious figure in the group, who, it says, had been killed the previous night in a U.S. drone strike.
Al-Qaeda Branches Send Condolences To Ajnad Misr On Death Of Its Leader
AQAP's statement of condolences to Ajnad Misr
Following the Egyptian jihad group Ajnad Misr's announcement of the death of its leader (see Ajnad Misr Confirms Death Of Its Leader, Appoints New Emir), two Al-Qaeda branches have released statements of condolence, in an important indication of the link between Ajnad Misr and Al-Qaeda.
