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.
By: R. Green
In recent years, the Islamic State (ISIS) has been intensively encouraging its supporters to step up their social media activity, primarily on Facebook and Twitter, to maximize its impact and exposure and to streamline efforts to disseminate information and content on social media.
A poster circulated on July 8, 2018, by a jihadi Telegram group encourages lone attackers to set forest fires in the West.
On July 9, 2018, pro-Islamic State Telegram accounts circulated a statement apparently on behalf of the hacking collective United Cyber Caliphate (UCC), which claimed that the group had hacked over 213 Thai, Philippine, Indonesian, and South Korean websites as part of an ongoing campaign to target East Asian countries.
EXCLUSIVE: Two-Part 'Jihadi Diaries' From Kashmir Shared On Telegram
On June 28 and June 29, 2018, a Telegram channel published the following two-part "jihadi diaries." These diaries show two points: a clamour among some jihadis to free themselves from the clutches of Pakistani intelligence agencies; and a possible involvement of Pakistani intelligence with India in the killing of belligerent jihadis who went outside of Pakistan's control.
On June 26, 2018, a writer identifying himself as Muhammad Abdul Aziz published an open letter, in English, to tennis star Roger Federer, urging him to convert to Islam.
In a July 5, 2018 communique, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for a July 4 IED attack on a U.S. Hummer in the Al-Barakah Province, in Maysarah (ISIS's name for the town of Markadah, south of Al-Hasakah), and stated that all troops inside it had been killed or injured.
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Killing Of Eight 'Crusader' Philippine Soldiers On Jolo Island
On July 12, 2018, the Islamic State (ISIS) news agency A'maq reported that a day earlier the group had killed eight Philippine soldiers and wound 11 more during clashes in the Patikul region of Jolo Island in the southern Philippines.
On July 10, 2018, the Islamic State (ISIS) in Hauran, Syria, released a statement claiming that one of its fighters, Abu Al-Zubair Al-Ansari, had carried out a "martyrdom" car-bombing against Russian and Syrian forces in the western suburbs of Daraa. According to the statement, which was posted on multiple pro-ISIS Telegram channels and Twitter accounts, Abu Al-Zubair detonated the car-bomb near a concentration of Syrian and "Crusader" Russian troops, leaving 35 dead and 15 injured, and also destroying two tanks and several military vehicles.
ISIS-Affiliated Jaysh Khalid Bin Al-Walid Calls On People Of Hauran, Syria To Join Its Ranks
On July 3, 2018, A'maq, the news agency of the Islamic State (ISIS), released on Telegram a video featuring a member of Jaysh Khalid Bin Al-Walid, an ISIS-affiliated group, calling on the people of Hauran (an area in southwest Syria) to join the group. In the video, Jaysh Khalid Bin Al-Walid showed its military power, including tanks, medium-range cannons, and dozens of fighters.
ISIS Photo Report Shows Its Activity In Syrian Desert
On July 10, 2018, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a photo report showing the activity of its fighters in the Al-Suwayda Desert, southeast of Damascus.
Pro-ISIS Media Releases Poster Threatening NYC
On July 7, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media group Sarh Al-Khilafa released a poster showing New York City engulfed in calamity.
Pro-ISIS Magazine Urges Muslim Youth To Emulate Al-Baghdadi's Son And Join Jihad
On July 9, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet Al-Dar' Al-Sunni released issue 18 of Al-Anfal magazine.
On July 10, 2018, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media activist published an infographic with English instructions for would-be attackers.
On July 11, 2018, the Islamic State (ISIS) West Africa Province released a video recounting the group's activities and operations in recent years around Lake Chad in northeast Nigeria.
On July 10, 2018, the Telegram channel of a group describing itself as an aid organization released a statement calling on people to donate money to help the foreign fighters and their families in Syria that are struggling to survive as they do not receive salaries or food packages.
On July 5, 2018, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) tech group published a guide instructing WhatsApp users on how to adjust the application's settings to enhance the user's security and protect their privacy.
On June 2, 2018, an administrator of a Zello channel posted an audio recording of a speaker saying that he had been a military official in the ranks of Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), now known as Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), and was now calling on jihadis to join the Islamic State (ISIS) after having himself joined the group.
German Jihadi Media Company Active On Telegram Shares Audio Lectures On Martyrdom On SoundCloud
On July 8, 2018, a Telegram channel affiliated with Al-Qaeda elements in Syria and run by a German-speaking fighter promoted a new media company.
Jihadi Social Media – Account Review (JSM-AR): Pro-ISIS Arabic Page On Facebook Active Since 2015
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies
Platform: Facebook
Type of account: Pro-Islamic State (ISIS) page, disseminating ISIS ideology and materials in Arabic.
On July 3, 2018, pro-Al-Qaeda jihadi group Hurras Al-Din published a pictorial report documenting an attack on a Syrian army checkpoint in the northern suburbs of Hama, Syria.
Al-Qaeda In The Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Affiliate Claims Killing Of Nine Tunisian Soldiers
On July 8, 2018, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) stated that its affiliate in Tunisia, the 'Uqba Bin Nafi' Brigade, had targeted a Tunisian border patrol in the village of Ain Soltane, near the Algerian border, with an IED.
On July 9, 2018, the Al-Badr Media Foundation, a pro-Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) group, released a document on its Telegram channel describing the benefits for the mujahideen of using the anonymizing TOR (The Onion Router) network.
Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Video Commemorating Its Fallen Non-Uyghur Fighters
On July 9, 2018, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released a video commemorating the non-Uyghur fighters who had died fighting with the group. The video, which was posted on TIP's official Telegram channel, featured TIP fighters commemorating the "martyred" fighters, recounting stories about them, and commending their virtues, behavior, and bravery.
On July 10, 2018, Muhammad Khurasani, the central spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed the killing during an election campaign in Peshawar the same night of Pakistani politician Haroon Bilour. At least 20 people were killed in the suicide attack.
Jihadi Poem Shared On Telegram Pays Tribute To Slain Kashmiri Jihadi Burhan Wani
On July 8, 2018, which was the second anniversary of the death of jihadi commander Burhan Wani, who was killed by Indian security forces in south Kashmir, protests were organized by secessionist groups such as Hurriyat Conference and jihadi groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu & Kashmir.
Taliban Praises Afghan Soldier Who Killed U.S. Soldier
The Taliban has posted on its official Telegram account a notice regarding the July 7, 2018 shooting at the Tarinkot airport in Afghanistan in which a U.S. soldier was killed.
Afghan Taliban Issue Statement On Islamic Scholars' Conference In Saudi Arabia
On July 9, 2018, The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) released a statement just before the July 9-11, 2018 conference of Islamic scholars held in Saudi Arabia on the issue of peace in Afghanistan. "Reports are being published regarding arrangement of a meeting about Afghanistan in... Saudi Arabia. [The] Islamic Emirate wants to highlight some important points in regard with this meeting."
Afghan Taliban: America Must Desist From 'Labelling Our National Uprising (Jihad) As Terrorism'
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization that ran the government of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and was banished by the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks) has issued a statement rejecting media reports that describe it as an organization rather than a government. "The opposition and media have been propagating over the past two decades that the Islamic Emirate is a rebellious group that is hostile towards education, does not respect basic human rights, does not have capacity of good governance; and cannot provide services, welfare projects, justice and security. Basically, the Islamic Emirate is not fit to take responsibility for the administrative and political stewardship of a country.
In an article published in the Taliban's monthly magazine Al-Somood, the writer called on the soldiers in the Afghan army to repent and join the ranks of the mujahideen and warned those who had become a "barrier to shield the occupiers" that the Taliban would have no choice but to kill and crush them.
