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: Leading Salafi Jihadi Clerics Clash Over Fate Of Jihad In Syria
By: R. Green*
In late September 2019, coinciding with the new Islamic year, two leading Salafi-jihadi clerics became embroiled in a heated debate online over the fate of jihad in Syria.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Supporters In 44 Countries Renew Allegiance To Al-Baghdadi
On September 16, 2019, following the most recent speech by Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, a pro-ISIS channels on Telegram released images collected from various pro-ISIS Telegram channels in which supporters, claiming to be from 44 different countries around the world, reaffirm their allegiance to Al-Baghdadi.
After the collapse of the year-long U.S.-Taliban negotiations, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) has accelerated "efforts to acquire portable missiles" for use against Afghan and foreign troops, according to an Urdu daily.
According to an Urdu-language daily, a three-member Taliban delegation recently met with Russian officials in Moscow where "Russia gave the proposal that the Taliban establish a parallel government" in Afghanistan, and further offered "complete cooperation."
ISIS Claims 15 Russian, Syrian Soldiers Killed Or Wounded In Ambush In Homs Province
On September 22, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed that 15 Russian and Syrian soldiers were killed or wounded in an ambush set up by the "Caliphate soldiers" on September 21 in the countryside of Al-Sukhnah city in Homs province, the group's Nashir News Agency said in a statement posted on Telegram.
ISIS Releases Video Of Execution Of Two Nigerian Soldiers
On September 22, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) official A'maq news agency released a short video showing the execution of two Christian Nigerian soldiers captured in a September 5 raid on a military base in Gajiram, Borno State.
On September 19, 2019, in its Al-Naba' weekly, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Burkinabe military base in Koutougou in Burkina Faso's northern Soum province.
ISIS Documents Training Camp In Somalia
On September 21, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) Somalia Province media outlet released a set of ten photographs on Telegram, depicting fighters in a training camp in Somalia.
On September 19, 2019, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet on Telegram, shared a poster showing a masked, armed ISIS fighter standing against a background of what appears to be a Western city in flames with an English text on the image threatening the United States.
On September 24, 2019, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) tech group Electronic Horizons Foundation (EHF) shared on its Telegram channel a post that warned followers about "[an] Encrypted Messaging" app.
On September 19, 2019, Al-Kata'ib, the media arm of the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda-affiliate Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen released an audio statement delivered by the group's leader, Abu Ubaidah Ahmad Omar.
While tough battles were being fought in recent weeks in the Idlib region of Syria, in which the rebels suffered defeats in several places, a social media campaign was launched there on September 5, 2019.
On September 18, 2019, a pro-Al-Qaeda media agency, published an article on its Telegram channel stressing the importance of jihadi media and urging the mujahideen to acquire media knowledge and training in designing, directing, and script writing.
Taliban Claims Responsibility For Attack On Kandahar Airbase That It Says Killed 12 U.S. Soldiers
On September 23, 2019, Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousef Ahmadi released a statement claiming that an infiltrated Taliban jihad fighter had caused the deaths of 12 U.S. soldiers in an attack on an airbase in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) has reinstated permission for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to work across the country, according to an Urdu daily.
According to a September 17, 2019 report in the Urdu daily Roznama Ummat, Afghan Taliban militants have destroyed three electrical towers in Baghlan province, causing a disruption to the power supply in 11 provinces of Afghanistan, an Urdu daily reported.
On September 14, 2019, a Pakistani Urdu daily, in a report following U.S. President Donald Trump's tweets of September 7, 2019, which announced the cancellation of the U.S.-Taliban negotiations, stated that "Saudi Arabia is also behind the termination of the talks between the U.S. and the Taliban."
According to an Urdu daily, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) and former mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the chief of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), which reached a peace agreement with the Afghan government in 2016, have joined hands to launch a "joint struggle" in order to force the exit of American troops from Afghanistan.
