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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On September 13, 2019, the pro-Al-Qaeda Al-Hijrah Media outlet released a three-page communique in English on Telegram, in response to the U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program announcement of a reward for information about three senior Al-Qaeda operatives and leaders of the Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras Al-Din.
In 2009, Jamal Jafaar Mohammed Ali Ebrahimi, known as Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi (Popular Mobilization Units, PMU) in Iraq and founder of the Hizbullah Brigades, was included in the U.S. Department of the Treasury list of people and organizations designated as "terrorists," alongside the Hizbullah Brigades.
According to several Syrian sources, demonstrations against the Assad regime held in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib region since the beginning of September 2019, also included condemnation of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the most powerful jihadi faction in Syria and the de facto leader of the opposition in Idlib, as well as calls for its leader, Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, to step down.
In the hours following the release of an audio message by Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on September 16, 2019, many social media accounts belonging to ISIS supporters celebrated the message and commented on it.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On September 16, 2019, pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media wing Al-Furqan Foundation released an audio recording featuring the group's leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, urging "Caliphate soldiers" to redouble their efforts in all levels, embrace those who had repented, and use force to release ISIS captives held in prisons and refugee camps. In the 30-minute 15-second recording, titled "And Say, 'Do...,'" which was posted on official ISIS Telegram channel Nashir News Agency and other pro-ISIS Telegram channels, Al-Baghdadi also reaffirmed the continuation of ISIS operations in various provinces and mocked the United States of being "exhausted" due to the attacks of ISIS fighters and said that it has been "dragged" into Mali and Niger.
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating engagement with jihadi ideology.
On September 17 and 18, 2019, pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channels warned ISIS followers worldwide to exercise caution and remain alert after several ISIS supporters reportedly arrested in Turkey.
On September 11, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) in West Africa released a pictorial report documenting an ambush its fighters carried out against a Nigerian army convoy near Lake Chad, showing bodies of dead soldiers as well as several military vehicles that it seized.
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attack On Congolese Army And UN Forces In North-East Congo
On September 15, 2019, Islamic State (ISIS) in Central Africa announced that on the previous day its fighters killed and wounded soldiers of the Congolese Army and UN forces in the Beni area, in north-east Congo.
ISIS Sinai Summarizes Its Operations In The Last Hijri Year
The latest issue of ISIS's Al-Naba news bulletin (Issue 199, published September 12, 2019) features an infographic tallying the operations carried out by ISIS in Sinai during the Hijri year 1440 (September 2018-August 2019).
ISIS Releases Video Of Grad Rocket Attack On Military Base In Niger
On September 17, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) official news agency A'maq released a short clip showing two Grad rockets being fired at what the organization claims was a military base in Niger. The attack was said to have taken place on September 4.
On September 12, 2019, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Dir' Al-Sunni Telegram channel shared a poster showing a plane crashing into what appears to be the World Trade Center.
Pro-ISIS Telegram Group Posts Threats To The Netherlands
On September 19, 2019, members of the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram chat group GreenB1rds shared posters threatening the Netherlands.
ISIS Supporters Distribute Posters Threatening Rome, London
In mid-September 2019, members of an English-language, pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram chat group distributed posters threatening attacks in London. Around the same time, a poster distributed by another pro-ISIS media outlet threatened an attack on the Vatican.
On September 9, 2019, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-affiliated military commander Abu Al-'Abd Al-Ashidda' released on his Telegram channel a 19-minute, 33-second video titled "So That The Ship Does Not Sink" offering an "important advice to HTS's leaders."
Al-Shabab Hands Out Cash To Families In Mogadishu
On September 12, 2019, the Al-Shabab-affiliated Shahadah News Agency reported on an event held by Al-Shabab in the outskirts of Mogadishu in which it handed out cash to families in need.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate In Yemen, Houthis Swap Prisoners in Al-Bayda' Province
On September 15, 2019, a pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel posted a photo set showing fighters of the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen Ansar Al-Shari'ah, also known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), welcoming released fighters after a prisoner exchange with the Houthis that took place on September 13. While the number of Al-Qaeda prisoners was not mentioned, the photos show six fighters being welcomed by armed militants following their release.
On September 17, 2019, Al-Zallaqah, the media arm of the Mali-based Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Group For The Support Of Islam And Muslims (GSIM), released a statement claiming that its fighters had taken over two military posts in Burkina Faso, killing at least four soldiers, and seizing loads of weapons and ammunition.
In a statement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) blamed America, and specifically U.S. President Donald Trump, for the failure of the U.S.-Taliban talks held over the past year in Doha, Qatar.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization), issued a statement denying claims by U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that about 2,000 Taliban fighters had been killed during the second week of September 2019.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) has taken steps toward the formation of a parallel government following the September 7, 2019, cancellation of the U.S.-Taliban talks by President Donald Trump, an Urdu daily reported.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) issued a statement in which it expressed its anger at the U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cancel the U.S.-Taliban peace talks.
The negotiations, nine rounds of which had been held in Doha, with a peace pact about to be signed – were cancelled by the U.S. president, who announced the cancellation in a series of tweets, after an American soldier was killed in an attack by Taliban militants.
Taliban Website Claims That 1,164 Afghan Government Officials Defected To The Taliban In August 2019
According to a statement issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization), at least 1,164 officials of the Afghan government joined the Taliban during August 2019. The defections are due to the efforts of the Islamic Emirate's Preaching, Guidance, And Recruitment Commission in all provinces of the country.
