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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In a Pashtu-language audio statement broadcast on the "Voice of the Caliphate" radio station, the Islamic State's Governor for Khorasan, Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai, has vowed to continue jihad until Muslim-ruled regions from Spain to East Turkistan (Xinjiang) are liberated.
The Khorasan chapter of the Islamic State (ISIS) launched the propaganda FM radio station in eastern Afghanistan a few weeks ago. The channel is also locally known as Khilafat Radio. The radio has two hours of Pashtu-language broadcasts - from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time. Besides Nangarhar province, it can also be heard in parts of neighboring Kunar province as well as in Pakistan's bordering tribal districts of Bajaur and Mohmand.
The Islamic State's Khorasan chapter has released a short video showing their fighters overrunning an Afghan security forces outpost, carrying out their first-ever suicide attack in Afghanistan, and executing three men.
The video, which is 12:12 long and titled "Maqbaratul Murtadeen-1" (the Graveyard for Apostates-1), was produced by the Khorasan Media Office of the Islamic State and posted online, including on affiliated Twitter accounts and websites. Unlike most of the jihadist videos, this video features no voiceover except a brief audio clip of an unknown cleric speaking Arabic. Pashtu and Arabic subtitles, however, can be seen on the screen depicting each event shown in the video.
EXCLSUIVE: Following Death Of Senior Cleric, AQAP Urges AQIM To Continue Attacks On France, U.S.
On December 27, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released an audio message by one of its senior officials, Ibrahim Al-Qusi. In the audio recording Al-Qusi offered AQAP's condolences to its sister group, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), upon the death of the latter's shari'a committee head, Abu Hassan Al-Bulaidi. He praised AQIM's attacks on Western targets and vowed that jihad against America and France would continue.
Al-Qusi began his message by offering condolences:
"From our front of the Arabian Peninsula, we offer our condolences to our brothers the mujahideen in the Islamic Maghreb for the death of the sheikh Abu Al-Hassan Al-Bulaidi, may Allah have mercy on him, the head of the shari'a committee... while he was waging jihad against the apostates, France's collaborators in Algeria..." Al-Qusi praised Al-Bulaidi's lengthy path in jihad, his religious learning and teaching.
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On December 30, 2015, an Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman confirmed the death of Islamic State (ISIS) operative Charaffe Al-Mouadan, aka Aba Souleyman. He had been identified as an ISIS operative by the MEMRI JTTM and had been quoted and mentioned in MEMRI JTTM reports beginning in November 2013, and individually profiled in a February 2014 report on French-speaking foreign fighters. His prolific online activities had been followed by MEMRI JTTM researchers since September 2013, when he first arrived in Syria.
The following clip is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In a video-clip posted on the Internet on December 25, an Iraqi sniper with the PMU Shi'ite Militia says that he has fought in many wars, including against the Americans and the Jews. Since May, "I have killed 173 [ISIS terrorists]," he says, as he aims at his target.
Following are excerpts:
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
"Abu Tahseen": "My Name is Abu Tahseen. My name is Abu Tahseen. I was born in 1953. I am 63 years old. I have fought in many wars, including the war in the Golan in 1973. I am a sniper. I participated in the Kuwait war, in the Iraq-Iran war, in [the war] against the Americans, and in [the war] against the Jews. Some wars were just wars. In the Iran-Iraq war, people were led astray and were afraid.
[]
"Today, I've killed only two. Two is also nice, no? Usually I kill three or four a day. But the day is still young. There's still time."
Interviewer: "What is your monthly average?"
"Abu Tahseen": "I've been here since May. Since May sixth until today, I have killed 173."
EXCLUSIVE: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's Annual 2015 Report Gives Details Of Its Operations
On December 29, 2015, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) released an annual report that includes details of its activities over the course of 2015. The report, which provides a monthly breakdown of its activities, was released via Wordpress.com. following are excerpts from the report:
The TTP, once the most dreaded terror group that almost destabilized the Pakistani state, has been displaced from Pakistan and is thought to be operating from somewhere in Afghanistan. However, it does continue to have some presence in the Pakistani tribal region and carries out regular attacks, which are of low intensity. Currently, it is led by Maulana Fazlullah.
The Association of Scholars in Syria is a group of clerics, jurisprudents and scholars associated with Jaysh Al-Fath, a coalition of Islamist groups fighting in Syria. On December 28, 2015 the association issued a fatwa titled "A General Call to Arms to The Islamic Nation," in which it described the war in Syria as "a decisive battle for Sunnis" everywhere, and called upon all able (Sunni) men to join this battle in order to repel the "Shi'ite" enemy. The fatwa comes after, on December 26, Jaysh Al-Fath's supreme command issued a similar statement calling for a general Sunni mobilization against the "Shi'ite" forces in Syria and urging religious authorities to join it in this call.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Assassinating Egyptian Army Officer In Cairo
On December 30, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for assassinating an Egyptian army officer in Cairo. The officer appears to have been targeted while in his vehicle. According to ISIS, he and his driver were killed.
AQAP Supporter Leaks ISIS Document Expelling Several Members For Rebelling Against Governor In Yemen
On December 28, 2015, "Jabal," a prominent supporter of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) who is active on Twitter, leaked a document issued by the Islamic State (ISIS) Office of the Remote Provinces expelling seven of its members.
According to the leaked document, the expelled members were accused of defying the ISIS-appointed governor in Yemen, refusing to back down from their positions, actively sowing discord among ISIS soldiers, and pretending to be loyal to ISIS although they violated their vows of loyalty.
ISIS Sinai Releases Photos From Sinai Sniper Training Course
On December 30, 2015, the ISIS information bureau in Sinai province released a series of photos to mark the completion of one recently completed sniper training course. The photos published on the jihadist forum Shumoukh Al-Islam and elsewhere, documents training in an undisclosed Sinai open area, sniping at marksmanship targets, camouflage field exercises by trainees and so on. The following are examples:
Turkestan Islamic Party Video Glorifies Fighters Killed In Syria, Including Alleged French National
On December 26, 2015, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) - an Al-Qaeda affiliate consisting mostly of Uighur fighters which is currently fighting in Syria - released a video of a nasheed (religious hymn) in the Uighur language titled "The Martyrs," in honor of TIP's fallen fighters. The video, subtitled in Arabic and English, was released by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), circulated via Twitter and Telegram and hosted on Archive.org and Youtube.
AQIM Announces Death Of Prominent Cleric Abu Al-Hassan Al-Bulaidi In Ambush By Algerian Forces
On December 25, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) issued an official communiqu├® in which it announced that the head of its Shura Council, Abu Al-Hassan Rashid Al-Bulaidi, was killed that day in a planned ambush by the "apostates" (i.e., the Algerian army) in the Bu Nu'man area in the Tizi Ouzou Province.
The communique, released by AQIM's media organ Al-Andalus, says: "After a long journey of sacrifice and giving, the educator and sheikh left us in order to join the procession of martyrs, rest from his toils and meet his loved ones, the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, [in Paradise]." It then mentions Al-Bulaidi's early career as a mosque imam in a city in Blida province, and praises his contribution to spreading the shari'a and jihad in Algeria and his persistent war to purge the Islamic Maghreb of the "apostates" [i.e., the Arab rulers] and the "agents."
'Jaysh Al-Fath' Islamist Coalition In Syria Calls For General Mobilization Against Shi'ites
On December 26, 2015, Jaysh Al-Fath, an alliance of Islamist forces in Syria, issued a communiqu├® urging a general mobilization of all "Muslims" (i.e., all Sunnis) to repel what is presented as a joint assault by the "Nusairis" (i.e., the Alawite Assad regime), Russia, Iran and the Shi'ite forces loyal to Assad. In appealing to all Sunni Muslims and warning of the threat they face "within Syria and outside it," the communiqu├® reflects both the increasingly sectarian nature of the Syria conflict and its increasingly international character. The communique is signed by the Jaysh Al-Fath Supreme Military Committee and was posted on the organization's Twitter account. The following are translated excerpts from it.
Bangladesh Arrests Four ISIS Militants, Their Leader Trained In Pakistan
Officials in Bangladesh have arrested four members of the Islamic State (ISIS) who were planning to recruit youths and travel to Syria, according to a Bangladeshi daily.
The militants were identified as Sakhawatul Kabir, regional commander of ISIS Bangladesh chapter; Nazrul Alam, a financier; Anwar Hossain, who was previously convicted in connection with a bombing; and Rabiul Islam. A court in Dhaka sent the four to five-day custody for further interrogation. They were arrested in the Jatrabari and Khilkhet areas of Dhaka.
Report: Pakistani Police Arrest Eight Jamaatud Dawa Members Who Joined ISIS
According to a Pakistani newspaper, police have arrested eight members of Jamaatud Dawa (formerly Lashkar-e-Taiba led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed) who had joined the Islamic State (ISIS) from the town of Sialkot in Punjab province.
Jamaatud Dawa is led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed that it arrested eight individuals and seized weapons, explosives, laptops, and CDs, the Dawn newspaper reported. They had taken an oath to "overthrow democracy and introduce Khilafat [caliphate] in Pakistan through armed struggle," the report said, adding the eight belong to different districts of Punjab.
