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 July 28, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) news agency A'maq released a video message by one of the July 26 Normandy church attackers, Ibn Omar, whom it identifies as Abdel Malik Petitjean. The previous day, the agency released a video showing the two church assailants, Abu Jaleel Al-Hanafi (Adel Kermiche) and Ibn Omar (Petitjean), pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
On July 27, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video targeting the New Syrian Army (NSA), one of the major factions supported by the U.S. in Syria. The video, posted on ISIS's official Telegram channel, features footage and audio taken from mobile devices of NSA fighters who were captured by ISIS, which shows them receiving training from American and British officers.
On July 28, 2016, Arabic News Channel Al-Jazeera aired a video recording in which Jabhat Al-Nusra leader Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani declared that his group has severed ties with Al-Qaeda and changed its name to Jabhat Fath Al-Sham (JFS).
JTTM subscribers click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
EXCLUSIVE: Al-Qaeda Gives Jabhat Al-Nusra Green Light To Leave Its Fold
On July 28, 2016, Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) released via its media wing, Al-Manara Al-Bayda, an audio message from Ahmad Hassan Abu Al-Khair Al-Masri, the deputy leader of Al-Qaeda. In the message Al-Masri announces that, following consultations among its senior leadership, Al-Qaeda has decided to instruct JN to "pursue whatever measures" are necessary to protect the jihad in Syria and unite the jihad factions in Syria. By this, Al-Qaeda has effectively complied with JN's request to sever its ties with Al-Qaeda, its parent organization, so as to promote unity among the Islamist militias in Syria.
EXCLUSIVE: Belmokhtar Urges Libyans To Remain Steadfast In War Against French
On July 24, 2016, Al-Murabitoun, an Al-Qaeda affiliate in North Africa, published a statement by its commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar. After consoling the Libyans for their losses in the fight against "the insolent Crusader campaign" that France is waging "in attempt to harm the people of honor who rebelled against oppression and tyranny," he urges them: "Persist in your giving and steadfastness in protecting your religion and homeland from the filth of the Crusaders and their agents."
EXCLUSIVE: Jabhat Al-Nusra Expected To Announce It Is Cutting Ties With Al-Qaeda, Taking New Name
According to reports from Syria and online discussions among Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) and Al-Qaeda supporters, JN will soon announce that it is officially cutting its ties to Al-Qaeda. Online supporters have begun circulating a new name that the group will adopt - Jabhat Fath Al-Sham, i.e. The Syria Conquest Front. Supporters are already promoting a Twitter hashtag with the new name.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Continues To Threaten France, Germany With More Terrorist Attacks
In last few days, the Islamic State (ISIS), along with its supporters on Twitter and Telegram, have posted images containing threats to the West in general and to France and Germany in particular. The images, which were published on Telegram and Twitter under different hashtags, show popular landmarks in France and Germany with messages threatening more terrorist attacks by ISIS fighters in retaliation for air strikes carried out by coalition forces. The threatening messages on these images were mainly in Arabic, English, and German. A photo of Mohammed Daleel, the attacker who had sworn fealty to ISIS before blowing himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach, Germany on July 24, 2016, appears in some of them.
A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) disseminator on Instagram shares graphic photos and official ISIS videos containing gruesome violence. The account is frequently suspended; as of this writing he is on his 52nd account. It should also be noted that sometimes the spelling of his name differs slightly. His efforts are celebrated by ISIS fighters in Syria who promote his new accounts following suspensions.
French-Speaking ISIS Media Operatives Justify The Murder Of Priests
Following the July 27, 2016 terror attack in Saint Etienne Du Rouvray, France, in which an elderly priest was murdered, ISIS French language media operatives justified the killing of priests.
On July 20, 2016, the Ninawa province of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video featuring two French-speaking ISIS fighters who praise last week's attack in Nice and threaten further ISIS retaliation in more French cities.
JTTM subscribers click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Church Attack In Normandy, France
On July 26, 2016, the A'maq news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), published an ISIS claim of responsibility for the July 26 attack in a church in Normandy, France, which left one priest dead and another person seriously injured.
The Islamic State (ISIS) news agency A'maq has released a video featuring the martyrdom will of Muhammad Daleel, the suicide bomber who blew himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach, Germany yesterday.
Issue 40 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly newsletter Al-Naba, published July 26, 2016, featured on article on Muhammad Daleel, the suicide bomber who blew himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach, Germany on July 24. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, and released a posthumous video of Daleel in which he pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and threatened more attacks against Germany.
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Suicide Attack In Ansbach, Germany
On July 25, 2016, A'maq, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), reported that the bomber who blew himself near the site of a music festival in Ansbach, Germany and injured at least twelve people was "a soldier of the Islamic State."
On July 26, 2016, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Tripoli, Libya released a video condemning the support provided by the international community to the Libyan government in its fight against terrorist groups.
ISIS Claims July 23, 2016 Kabul Attack On Hazara Shi'ites
On July 23, 2016, the Islamic State's "Khorasan Province" issued an official statement in which it claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing perpetrated that day in Kabul, Afghanistan, targeting a large gathering of Hazara Shi'ites.
Pro-ISIS Hacking Group Releases Kill List Of Over 700 U.S. Army Personnel
On July 25, 2016 the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC), a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) hacking group, released a kill list containing the names of over 700 U.S. Army personnel on its Telegram channel.
Pro-ISIS Hacking Group Posts Infographic Highlighting Hacking Prowess
On July 28, 2016, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Hacking group United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) posted an infographic on its Telegram channel highlighting the group's most prominent hacks. The infographic lists the group's hacks according to the countries targeted, the number of websites hacked, and the number of soldiers whose information was leaked. Both the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) and the French TV5 Monde television station were hacked in 2015 by the Cyber Caliphate, which later went on to become part of the United Cyber Caliphate.
The infographic reads: "Statistics About The United Cyber Caliphate Islamic State Hacking Division -
"Prominent Hacks:
"Hacking US State Department website and releasing information on its staff."
In New Audio Speech, Al-Qaeda Leader Al-Zawahiri Urges Followers To Free Jihadi Prisoners
On July 23, 2016, Al-Qaeda released a new audio speech by the group's leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. The speech is the third installment in the "My Brother, Carry Your Weapon" series of eulogies for jihadi leaders. In the speech, Al-Zawahiri urged Al-Qaeda and its offshoots to exert efforts to free jihadi prisoners, alluding to the need to kidnap Westerners. He also praised Al-Qaeda's Syrian branch Jabhat Al-Nusra for freeing female prisoners in a swap with the Lebanese government.
On July 21, 2016, the Turkestan Islamic Part (TIP) released a video for a nasheed (Islamic song) in the Uyghur language that calls upon Muslims, especially those living in East Turkestan (China's Xinjian region), to adhere to their faith, stand up to their oppressors, and seek revenge. Muslims are also encouraged to make hijra to Syria.
Benghazi Rebels Call On Libyans To Expel French Forces
The Benghazi Rebels, a coalition of Islamist militias in Libya that is fighting against the Benghazi parliament, has released a communique by its Shura Council calling upon all Libyans to take up arms against the French forces in Libya and against all other foreign forces and expel them from the country.
