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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Pakistani jihadi organization Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) held a series of conferences on the "interpretation of jihadi verses" in 25 towns across Pakistan, according to an Urdu weekly.
EXCLUSIVE: Video By Syrian Rebels' Operations Room Highlights Role Of Sniper Unit
On April 24, 2019, the "Incite the Believers" operations room, which coordinates the military activities of Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria, released a 15-minute video highlighting the activities of the operations room's sniper unit.
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-ISIS Outlet Encourages Arson Attacks In The West In Wake Of Paris Notre Dame Fire
On April 21, 2019, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet Al-Abd Al-Faqir published a video "Notre Dame is not the Last" focusing on the fire that ravaged the Paris cathedral, and exhorting Muslims in the West to carry out attacks using fire.
EXCLUSIVE: Fatwa By Jihadi Ideologue: Muslims Should Rejoice Over Notre Dame Fire
On April 17, 2019, an Al-Qaeda supporter on Telegram posted a query he had sent to the prominent jihadi ideologue Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, asking whether Muslims who issued statements of sympathy about the devastating fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris should be considered apostates from Islam.
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-ISIS Media Group Calls On 'Monotheists' In U.S. And Europe To Start Forest Fires
On April 18, 2019, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media group published a poster calling on the "monotheists" living in the U.S and Europe to set fires in forests and on farms.
This dispatch seeks to establish a long-standing connection between the National Tawheed Jamaat, the Sri Lankan terror group behind the April 21, 2019 suicide bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka in which at least 321 people were killed, and the Indian radical group of similar name Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaat (TNTJ).
ISIS Supporter Shares Photos Of Alleged Sri Lanka Bombers
On April 23, 2019, shortly before the Islamic State (ISIS) 'Amaq news agency published the ISIS claim of responsibility for the coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka two days earlier, an ISIS media activist on Telegram published photographs of three armed Sri Lankan men posing in front of a banner used by ISIS.
On April 23, 2019, A'maq, the news agency of the Islamic State (ISIS), released a video showing the perpetrators of the coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka swearing the oath of fealty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
UPDATED – ISIS Claims Responsibility For Sri Lanka Attacks
On April 23, 2019, the ISIS news agency A'maq released a statement on Telegram claiming that the April 21, 2019 coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka were carried out by ISIS fighters.
ISIS Supporters Celebrate Easter Sunday Bombings In Sri Lanka
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The multiple April 21, 2019 bombings in Sri Lanka, which targeted a number of churches and hotels, as well as other locations, and in which more than 200 people were killed and hundreds were wounded, appear to have been coordinated by a single organization. While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, many of which appear to be suicide attacks, supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) have taken to Telegram to celebrate them. A Kashmiri pro-ISIS channel mentioned a poster that had been released on April 20, one day before the attacks, by the pro-ISIS Indonesian media outlet Ash-Shaff Foundation. The poster, showing a hooded man standing in front of the Notre Dame in Paris with a text threatening "lone wolf attacks" in "Crusader" churches, seems to be a reaction to the April 15, 2019 Notre Dame fire. The Kashmiri channel, however, associated it with the Sri Lanka bombings, writing in English: "As-Shaff foundation (Pro Islamic State Media) had released a poster yesterday threatening of attacks and bloodshed in churches. And today three churches were attacked in Sri-Lanka, there is a possibility that Islamic State lonewolves executed this attack, but there is no claim from the official Islamic State sources."
On April 21, 2019, A'maq, the news agency of the Islamic State (ISIS), released a video showing the perpetrators of the foiled same-day attack on a Saudi security building in the city of Al-Zulfi.
ISIS Pictorial Report Documents Military Activity In Fezzan Province, Libya
On April 21, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a pictorial report documenting its military operations against the "apostate" forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) under the leadership of Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, near the town of Sabha, Libya.
ISIS In Sinai Releases Video Of Suicide Bomber Who Perpetrated Recent Attack
On April 19, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) in Sinai released a video featuring the last will and testimony of a suicide bomber who carried out an attack against an Egyptian military installation.
ISIS East Asia Province Commemorates Young Soldier Killed In Battle
On April 19, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) East Asia Province commemorated a child soldier who died fighting for ISIS in the Philippines.
ISIS Supporter Promotes WhatsApp Pro App Found To Carry Malware
On April 15, 2019, an Islamic State (ISIS) supporter promoted WhatsApp Pro, a modified version of WhatsApp with extended capabilities that can run alongside the official WhatsApp app.
Platform: Facebook
On April 18, 2019, Al-Sahab, the media arm of Al-Qaeda, launched a new video series featuring Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. In the first episode, which was posted on a pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel, Al-Zawahiri warned Muslims and the mujahideen not to commit acts of injustice.
On April 18, 2019, Al-Qaeda released via its media wing Al-Sahab a statement supporting the civil unrest in Algeria and Sudan while calling on neighboring countries to reignite their revolutions to oust their governments and establish true Islamic rule.
Fighters In Idlib Pledge Allegiance To ISIS, Threaten Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)
On April 22, 2019, pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channels shared a statement from the leaders of the Khalid Ibn Al-Walid military company, which operates in the Idlib area in Syria, pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Malhama Tactical (MT) Opens New Telegram Channel Documenting Training Of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)
Malhama Tactical (MT) is a jihadi military contractor that has operated in Syria since around 2016. MT trains jihadi groups in the Syrian opposition including the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) and Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
Taliban Justify Cancellation Of Talks With Afghan Government-Nominated Delegation
In a statement on April 21, 2019, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) explained its cancellation of two days of talks with Afghan leaders that had been scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar, on April 20-21, 2019.
Afghan Taliban: 707 Afghan Government Officials Defected To Taliban In March 2019
On April 14, 2019, The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) published a list of 707 Afghan officials who defected from the Afghan government and joined the Taliban in March 2019.
On April 12, 2019, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization), which is in direct talks with the United States over the Afghan issue, announced the launch of its spring operations in order "to uproot occupation, attain sovereignty and establish an Islamic system."
Afghan Taliban Urge Mujahideen And NGOs To Help Flood Victims
In the wake of heavy rains and floods in many parts of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban organization) has urged mujahideen and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide emergency aid to the flood victims.
