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.
EXCLUSIVE: Poster By ISIS Supporters Threatens US President Trump
On August 23, 2018, the pro-ISIS Al-Dhakha’ir Media Foundation released a poster threatening U.S. President Donald Trump. The poster shows a hand holding Trump’s severed head, and is captioned "Soon".
EXCLUSIVE: Al-Muhajireen Foundation Publishes Profile Of Pakistani-Canadian Fighter Killed In Syria
On August 19, 2018, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media group published a profile of a Canadian fighter killed in Syria.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Video Shows Child And Teenage Perpetrators Of Coordinated Attacks In Chechnya
On August 21, 2018 the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video via its news agency A'maq showing the four of the perpetrators of the August 20 coordinated attacks on security forces in Grozny, Shali and Mesker-Yurt in Chechnya.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here.
On August 17, 2018, the Voice of Islam media outlet of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) published an audio clip from Sheikh Abd Al-Salam, the organization's most senior shari'a official, on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha which falls this year on August 21-22.
EXCLUSIVE: Report: Palestinian Refugee Fighters Are Returning To Lebanon From Syria
According to an August 20, 2018 report in a London-based daily, an unknown number of Palestinian refugee men, who had fought alongside Syria-based jihadi organization Jabhat Al-Nusra, the predecessor to Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), in Syria, have returned to Lebanon.
Hizbul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ("Movement of Pakistani Taliban," TTP), has launched an Urdu-language magazine called Ghazwa-e-Hind ("Battle of India").
According to Islam, a new month begins with the first sighting of a new moon. A sighting of the new moon is confirmed by one or more trustworthy men testifying before a group of Islamic scholars that they have seen the crescent.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Supporter Warns Fighters Not To Let Their Fingerprints Show in Photographs
In an August 14, 2018 message on a pro-ISIS Telegram channel, ISIS supporter Abu Asma' Abd Al-Rahman warned fighters in the field not to post photographs of themselves in which their fingerprints are visible, lest intelligence agencies such as the Mossad and the CIA discover their identity.
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-ISIS Media Group Distributes Manuals For Building Explosive Devices
In June 2018, the pro-ISIS "Al-Saqri Foundation for Military Sciences" published three manuals for creating various explosive devices.
On the eve of Eid Al-Adha, the annual three-day Islamic feast of sacrifice that in 2018 in South Asia began on August 22, Kashmiri jihadi commander Zakir Musa released an audio speech urging Muslims to confront the Hindu forces that have killed Muslims in India, such as cow vigilantes.
On August 23, 2018, Al-Sahab, the media arm of Al-Qaeda, released a new video featuring the group's leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in which he called on the Muslim ummah, the scholars, the mujahideen, and the preachers to unite to fight against the "international alliance of unbelief."
On August 19, 2018, the Al-Qaeda (AQ) Media Arm, Al-Sahab released an audio message from AQ leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in which he harshly criticizes the Hamas organization and labels it a traitor.
Two Syrian Rebel Factions Announce Their Decision To Join Pro-Al-Qaeda Group Hurras Al-Din
On August 20, 2018, pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram account Al-Muhajir Al-Khurasani posted two statements, one by the Jund Al-Sham Brigades and one by the Fursan Al-Iman Brigades, announcing that the groups were joining Syrian pro-Al-Qaeda organization Hurras Al-Din.
On the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, celebrated this year on August 20-21, telegram channels associated with Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) circulated an address by the organization's leader, Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, and photos of him touring the Latakia front. In the 8-minute address, Al-Joulani, seated in at a desk, conveys holiday greetings to his fighters and says that they are preparing well for the "decisive battle" in northern Syria, the rebels' last stronghold in the country.
On August 15, 2018, the official Telegram channel of Abu Malik Al-Shami, a commander in the Syria-based jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), published two photos showing the group's leader Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani meeting with prominent local figures from the suburbs of Damascus and Homs at an unspecified location.
Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Recruits Members For Shari'a Course, Provides WhatsApp Number
On August 20, 2018, the pro-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Telegram channel of Abu Muhammad Al-Hamawi published a recruitment poster by HTS's western sector in Syria to join the group's shari'a course. Registration will be open from August 20 to September 5, 2018.
On August 15, 2018, the Telegram channel of Al-A'asa'ib Al-Hamraa, a pro-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group, released an HTS poster announcing that the group is accepting new recruits.
On August 16, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet Al-Muhajireen Foundation released a poster on its Telegram channel highlighting "violations" carried out by Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) around Idlib, in northwest Syria.
On August 19, 2018, a French-speaking, Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadi group in Syria posted on Telegram that on August 18, 2018, its leader Omar Diaby a.k.a Omar Omsen was released from a Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) jail where he had been incarcerated.
ISIS Claims Mortar Attack On Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan
On August 21, 2018, ISIS claimed responsibility on its official Telegram channel for firing mortars at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
ISIS Claims Three U.S. Soldiers Were Wounded In IED Attack In Raqqa, Syria
On August 18, 2018, A'maq, the news agency of the Islamic State (ISIS), reported that three U.S. soldiers had been wounded in an IED attack that ISIS claimed on Al-Noor street in the city of Raqqa, Syria.
Pro-ISIS Media Outlet Releases Poster Threatening Policemen
On August 5, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet Al-Abd Al-Faqir Foundation published a digitally-created poster on its Telegram channel showing a truck about to run over two policemen and a man who appears to be a DHL Express employee.
Pro-ISIS Hackers Publish Poster Depicting NYC In Flames, Vow To Terrorize ISIS Enemies
On August 16, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) hacker group Anshar Caliphate Army published a poster on its Telegram channel depicting New York City in flames with an accompanying post threatening the group's enemies.
On August 20, 2018, Telegram users who support the Islamic State (ISIS) launched an online campaign urging the "brothers in the Islamic Maghreb" to revolt against their governments, take up arms, and fight for the sake of Allah."
Pro-ISIS Group Continues Campaign Against Spies, Defectors, And Smugglers
On August 15, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Muhajireen Foundation media outlet published several new items on Telegram in the framework of its ongoing campaign against defectors, smugglers and spies.
On August 9, 2018, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) United Cyber Caliphate Islamic State Hackers Division published a post on Telegram condemning the international hacktivist group Anonymous, threatening to "harm" it and vowing to "blacken the virtual world and terrorize the kuffar [unbelievers] in cyberspace."
Gaza-Based Jihadi Organization Al-Islam Turns To Facebook To Seek Funding For Rockets
On August 11, 2018, on its Facebook account, the Gaza-based jihadi group Jaysh Al-Islam published an infographic poster about the 107 mm Grad rocket, with a request for donations to enable it to purchase more of them.
New Poster Appeals For Funds For Syrian Jihad Via WhatsApp And Bitcoin
On August 11, 2018, a graphic designer based in Syria who is active on Telegrampublished a poster in support of a campaign led by the Al-Sadaqah ("charity" in Arabic) group, an organization dedicated to fundraising for jihadi fighters in Syria.
Jihadi Social Media – Account Review (JSM-AR): Pro-Al-Qaeda Group Hurras Al-Din Active On WhatsApp
The following information is based on a general overview of a WhatsApp account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies.
Platform: WhatsApp
Additional Information: Hurras Al-Din is the name of a Pro-Al-Qaeda WhatsApp group created on July 31, 2018, that has 108 members, including four listed admins.
On August 22, 2018, Al-Kata'ib, the media arm of Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, released a statement on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha condemning the government of Saudi Arabia for "violating people's rights during Hajj" and urging Muslims to migrate to jihadi fronts and march forth to wage jihad.
Al-Shabab Claims Responsibility For Attempted Assassination Of Somali Deputy Defense Minister
On August 23, 2018, the Al-Shabab-affiliated Shahada News reported that Al-Shabab had, on the same day, tried and failed to assassinate Somali Deputy Defense Minister Abdullahi Olad Rooble in Dayniile district near Mogadishu.
On August 17, 2018, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a statement rejecting the Associated Press's (AP) August 7, 2018 investigative report accusing the Saudi-led military coalition of "cutting secret deals" with the AQAP fighters in Yemen "to leave key cities and towns and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment, and wads of looted cash."
On the eve of Eid Al-Adha, the annual three-day Islamic feast of sacrifice that in 2018 in South Asia will begin on August 22, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization), released a message saying that a victory against the U.S. in Afghanistan is near.
On August 14, 2018, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) issued a statement on the recent fighting in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. The tone of statement appears to have been buoyed by the Taliban's military success in the city of Ghazni, which is the capital of Ghazni province.
Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Part 27 In Its Video Series 'Lovers Of Paradise'
On August 18, 2018, the Uyghur jihadi organization Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released Part 27 in its video series "Lovers Of Paradise."
