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.
On May 18, 2015 the Islamic State's (ISIS) media wing, Al-Hayat Media, that produces non-Arabic material, distributed a new French language music-video of a nasheed [chant] with English subtitles. The song itself was already released in February 2015: it urges Muslims to make hijra [immigrate] and join the jihad with ISIS. It was the first of two official ISIS releases of a chant in French. The current video incorporates new footage that walks the viewer through the process of immigrating and joining ISIS, as well as archival footage of previously released ISIS videos. This is the second Al-Hayat media release of a music-video specifically targeting a western audience and using a western music-video style to transmit the jihadi message. The music-video was hosted on Archive.org in full high definition quality and distributed via the Twitter accounts of ISIS supporters.
The new ISIS music-video was distributed on Twitter and accompanied by this promotional banner.
JTTM subscribers can view this clip, here. Note to media and government: For a full copy of this video, 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.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Supporters Post Pictures Depicting Removal Of Crosses From Church In Iraq
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On May 19, Islamic State (ISIS) supporters circulated pictures depicting the removal of crosses from one of the churches in Ninawa, Iraq.
The crosses, two of which are visible in the pictures, were incorporated into the church's walls. Several men can be seen using various tools to remove them.
British ISIS Fighter Pens Islamic State Travel Guide
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Siddhartha Dhar, a popular and well-known British ISIS fighter who calls himself Abu Rumaysah al-Britani, authored a guide for prospective immigrants to the Islamic State. The detailed publication includes chapters such as "Weather in the Caliphate," "Food in the Caliphate," "Transport in the Caliphate," "People in the Caliphate," "Technology in the Caliphate," and "Capitalism is Dead." Abu Rumaysah was an associate of Anjem Choudary and Abu Baraa in London and moved to Syria with his family in October 2014. His November 2014 tweets boasting about evading British authorities were feted on Twitter by fellow jihadis and supporters.
German ISIS Fighter Carries Out Suicide Attack In Iraq
On May 18, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) Salah Al-Din province released two pictures of Abu Muhammad Al-Almani, a German ISIS fighter who carried out a suicide attack against Iraqi army gathering near the city of Baiji, Iraq.
ISIS Officially Announces That It Has Conquered Ramadi
On May 17, 2015, the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam released an official announcement on behalf of ISIS in Al-Anbar province claiming that the organization's forces had completely conquered the city of Ramadi.
ISIS Releases Eulogy, Bio Of Top Official Slain In 2014, Names Al-Ramadi Conquest In His Memory
Al-Sweiydawi
On May 17, 2015, the jihadi Al-Shumoukh forum released a eulogy and biography of senior ISIS official Abu-Muhannad Al-Sweiydawi, after the Islamic State (ISIS) named its current campaign to conquer in Al-Ramadi the "Abu-Muhannad Al-Sweiydawi Assault" after him.
ISIS supporters also launched a Twitter hashtag, #Abu-Muhannad Al-Sweiydawi Assault, for up-to-date information on ISIS's conquest of Al-Ramadi. In November 2014, the Iraqi government's governor of Al-Anbar province announced that Al-Sweiydawii had been killed; Al-Sweiydawii was at that time ISIS's governor of Al-Anbar province.
Tunisian Mujahideen Swear Fealty To Islamic State (ISIS) Leader Al-Baghdadi
On May 18, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) released an audio recording by a previously unknown Tunisian group, the "Mujahideen of Tunisia Al-Qayrawan," in which it swears fealty to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
In the recording, a group spokesman notes the importance unity among Muslims, and says that such unity is particularly important in these days because Islam's enemies are collaborating against it. He also says that unity cannot be achieved by groups or parties, but only by Muslims coming together under a single caliph and a single banner.
ISIS Commander In Sinai Calls On Locals To Kill Egyptian Soldiers
On May 21, 2015, ISIS' Sinai Province information bureau released a 17-minute audio message titled "Consolations and Messages" by Abu Osama Al-Masri, a commander of ISIS' branch in Sinai. In the audio, posted on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam and elsewhere, Abu Osama threatens the Egyptian regime and its security apparatuses and pledges that ISIS will settle accounts with the tyrants and their accomplices, terminate their rule and raise the flag of the Caliphate throughout Egypt. He also comforts the families of ISIS members and other Sinai residents who have been killed or imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities, assuring them that their loved ones have not sacrificed in vain. Addressing all Muslims in Sinai, he urges them to take up arms against the Egyptian authorities or attack and kill Egyptian soldiers in any way they can.
ISIS Releases Prisoners, Promises Free Medical Care In Ramadi
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Days after capturing the city of Ramadi in Iraq, the Islamic State (ISIS) has released prisoners there and promised free medical care for the residents, some of whom considered these actions as attempts to win local hearts and minds.
JN Communiqu├® Slams Coalition Airstrikes On JN's North Syria Command Posts
In a May 21, 2015 communique, Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) condemned "the Arab-Crusader coalition's airstrikes on JN command posts", saying that these strikes reveal the West's and the international community's true intentions in Syria, and demonstrate that they - unlike JN - do not seek the good of the Syrian people.
The communiqu├® opens by detailing JN's recent achievements against the Syrian Army: the victories in Idlib and Jisr Al-Shughur, the liberation of the Mastouma and Al-Qarmid bases, the start of an advance on the city of Ariha, the defeat of the Syrian army in southern and northern Syria, and the reaching of the coastal region, the very threshhold of the "Nusairi" [i.e., Alawite] regime. The communiqu├® also emphasizes JN's successful campaign against the Shi'ite militias fighting alongside the regime.
British Al-Shabaab Fighter Claims Capture Of Iranian Vessel
On May 14, 2015 after a Twitter hiatus, a British Al-Shabaab fighter in Somalia returned to his social media account to confirm previous reports stating that Iranian crew members were captured off the coast of Somalia.
Al-Murabitun Announces It Holds Abducted Romanian
On May 18, 2015, a Mauritanian news agency published an audio recording by the self-proclaimed Al-Murabitun emir, Adnan Abu Al-Walid Al-Sahrawi, in which he acknowledges that his group is holding a Romanian citizen taken hostage in Burkina Faso in April.
Adnan Abu Al-Walid Al-Sahrawi
Al-Sahrawi stated in the recording: "The Al-Murabitun group urges the Romanian government to pay sincere attention and regard to the negotiations file on the Romanian hostage that the group is holding. The Romanian government bears full responsibility for the fate of its hostage if it delays using the opportunity offered it to free its citizen. The group also announces its bay'a [oath of fealty] to the Islamic caliphate State, to the commander of the faithful, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, based on numerous shari' considerations. The shari'a orders [the group] to adhere to unity and avoid disunity, to unify the Muslims' word and their ranks. [The group] denies that it belongs to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or that it maintained any organizational links with the brothers in that organization since the day it [Al-Murabitun] was founded. Adanan Abu Al-Walid, emir of Al-Murabitun group."
Saad Aziz (right) and Mohammad Azhar Ishrat
Following are excerpts from a Pakistani media report shedding light on their radicalization:
Saad Aziz: "For The First Two Years [At Business College], He Was A Burger Kid [Westernized]; He Had Girlfriends And We Would Have Shisha [Smoke Hookah] At 'Indulge' [A Karachi Lounge]; He Was Funny, Acted In Plays And Danced"
"In the fall of 2010, Saad Aziz walked up to a fellow student in IBA's [the Karachi-based Institute of Business Administration] parking lot and asked: 'Have you read Milestones by Sayyid Qutb? It has changed my life.' [The Egyptian theologian] Qutb, who is now increasingly cited as the figure who influenced Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is known as one of the most influential advocates in modern times of jihad. The 'change' in Saad's life, as narrated by some of his friends at IBA, began sometime in his third year at IBA. Fast-forward five years and the 27-year-old IBA graduate was named by Sindh's chief minister as the mastermind behind the deadly Safoora carnage [in which 45 Ismaili Shia Muslims were killed] and murder of [liberal] activist Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi. Friends recall that Saad was a 'normal' kid. He played football for IBA United and had a GPA above 3.0."
