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.
Pro-ISIS Posters Celebrate Quetta, Pakistan Church Attack, Threaten Christmas Attacks
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On December 17, 2017, shortly after the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed that day's responsibility for an attack by two suicide bombers at a church in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least nine and wounded nearly 60, a pro-ISIS Telegram channel shared a poster of what appears to be the interior of the destroyed church with the addition of a militant, with the text: "We promised we would make your holidays hell, you got a taste..." The message is a reference to several pro-ISIS channels that have recently distributed posters threatening attacks during Christmas and the end-of-year holidays.
Danish ISIS Supporter Currently Traveling Through Europe Shows Off Gun Collection On Instagram
A Danish Islamic State (ISIS) supporter on Instagram expresses his support for the Islamic State online. On December 18, 2017, he shared that he was traveling from Copenhagen to Berlin by car, and that he planned to travel on to France from there. In addition to posting pro-ISIS content, he has posted photos of guns that he says he owns.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Supporter On Telegram Hints About Christmas Attack In 'Next Days' In The West
On December 21, 2017, a known user on a Telegram group, and an admin of the group, hinted that an attack would take place in the West in the "next days."
EXCLUSIVE: Kyrgyzstani Moscow Airport Employee Admires Notable Jihadi Leader On Facebook
A man from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan works at the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, Russia according to his Facebook profile.
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies
Platform: Facebook, Instagram
Additional Information: According to her Facebook, she is the mother of a young daughter, and says she is a widow.
An Islamic State (ISIS) supporter living in Tampa, Florida, on Facebook recently started his own website, which he frequently updates with official ISIS statements and videos and the most recent links to pro-ISIS Telegram channels.
On December 19, 2017, a Pakistani network engineer communicated on Twitter with the account of a fundraising group affiliated with Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) in Syria.
Pro-ISIS Poster Released On Telegram Depicts Threat To U.S. House Of Representatives
On December 19, 2017 a graphic was released by Al-Nusra Al-Maqdisiyya, a pro-ISIS entity which implies a threat attack against the U.S. House Of Representatives.
On December 14, 2017, Battar Al-Iraqi, a Telegram user who supports the Islamic State (ISIS), posted a graphic showing an ISIS fighter looking at the Washington National Cathedral, which is in flames.
Pro-ISIS Media Operative Releases Graphic On Telegram With Hanukkah Threat To Berlin
On December 15, 2017, pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media operative Almani released a graphic on Telegram featuring an armed militant in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and a large menorah that is in flames.
Graphic Circulated On Pro-ISIS Telegram Channel Threatens Churches In Alexandria, Egypt
On December 15, 2017, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel circulated a post threatening churches in Alexandria, Egypt.
Jihadi Social Media Account Review(JSMAR): Filipino ISIS Militant In Marawi Is Active On Facebook
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies
Platform: Facebook
Additional Information: He appears to be an ISIS militant in the embattled Philippines city of Marawi. Some of his posts are dedicated to promoting the virtues of jihad, and others praise the Islamic State.
Members Of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Subgroup Active On Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
The predominantly Russian group Liwa Al-Mujahireen Wal Ansar (LMA), which is also sometimes referred to as Jaish Al-Mujahireen Wal-Ansar, is a rebel group in Syria that is a part of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). On Facebook and Instagram, members of the group have posted candid photos from the frontlines.
HTS Appeals To Military, Medical Personnel To Join Mujahideen, Provides Contact Number Via WhatsApp
On December 14, 2017, pro-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Telegram channels published two posters from two different HTS bodies seeking new recruits. Each poster provided a different number for contact via WhatsApp.
ISIS Claims Attack On Egyptian Ministers' Delegation At El Arish Airport
On December 20, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Sinai Province claimed responsibility for an attack on El Arish airport during a visit to northern Sinai by the Egyptian Minister of Defense and the Minister of the Interior.
ISIS Claims Attack On Church In Quetta, Pakistan
On December 17, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Khurassan Province claimed responsibility for a suicide attack which took place earlier in the day in a church in Quetta, Pakistan.
ISIS: Syrian Desert Will Be "Boiling Cauldron" For Russians, Iranian-Backed Militias
On December 17, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Hayat Media Center released a six-minute video featuring a motivational message to ISIS members delivered by a fighter identified as Abu Al-Abbas Al-Shami.
Pro-ISIS Hackers: US Is Our First Target, Russia The Next; We Have Declared Global Electronic War
On December 16, 2017, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) hacker group Caliphate Cyber Ghosts (CCG) posted a 10-minute video on Telegram titled "And Sit in Wait for Them at Every Place of Ambush."
On December 20, 2017, Shahada News Agency, the news agency of Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, posted on its Telegram channel an Al-Shabab claim of responsibility for an IED attack on a joint U.S. and Puntland army patrol near the town of Galgala in the suburbs of the city of Bosaso in northeastern Somalia.
On December 14, 2017, Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the Police Academy in Mogadishu, Somalia in which 27 policemen were killed, among them officers, and others were wounded.
On December 19, 2017, the Al-Zallaqa News media agency of the Mali-based jihadi group Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen ("The Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims," GSIM) released a statement in which GSIM claimed responsibility for the killing of a local commander and his guards to avenge its fighters.
Turkistan Islamic Party Posts Photos Of Its Fighters On The Frontlines In Eastern Hama
On December 20, 2017, the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) posted a pictorial report depicting its fighters in position in the villages of Umm Miyal and Al-Rahjan in the Hama eastern countryside, as well as firing rockets and mortar shells at the enemy from the village of Al-Shakhsiyah. The ten photographs were posted on the TIP Voice of Islam Telegram channel.
On December 14, 2017, the Uyghur jihadi group Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released a two-minute video on its Telegram channel documenting the shelling of Syrian forces in the rural eastern parts of Hama province, Syria.
Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Video Of Battles Against The Syrian Army East Of Hama
On December 15, 2017, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) posted a video titled "Thwarting the Advance Attempt of the Alawite Enemy on the Village of Al-Shakhsiyah" on its official Telegram channel.
On December 17, 2017, a Telegram posted a link to an Android app, saying the app had archived all of the lectures of the late Yemeni-American sheikh and Al-Qaeda figure Anwar Al-'Awlaki. The channel, which is dedicated to promoting Al-'Awlaki's legacy, also noted YouTube's recent removal of a large number of the cleric's lectures from the platform.
In his latest column in the Urdu-language weekly Haftroza Al-Qalam, Maulana Masood Azhar, the emir of the Pakistani jihadi organization Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), argues that U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital is an opportunity for Muslims to unite and fight a jihad to liberate Jerusalem.
Afghan Taliban Release Video On Takeover Of Jani Khel District In Afghanistan
A video released by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban's organization) shows civilians, including children, killed in U.S. airstrikes in the country, the militants who are fighting against foreign troops, and protests by Afghans.
Pakistani Intelligence Advisory Warns Of Possibility Of Taliban Attacks In Punjab Province
In an advisory note to civil, police and military officials in Punjab province, Pakistan intelligence agencies have warned of the possibility of terror attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
