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.
Following are excerpts from a video-clip featuring Australian Jihadist sheik Abu Sulayman Al-Muhajir, member of the General Shari'a Committee of Jabhat Al-Nusra. The video-clip was posted on the Internet on April 28, 2014. Tarek Mehanna is an American who was convicted in December 2011 by a federal jury in Boston of supporting Al-Qaeda.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
Titles: "Written by the prisoner Tarek Mehanna - may Allah break his captivity.
"The prisoner is in an American prison.
"Recited by Sheik Abu Sulayman Al-Mujahir"
Sheik Abu Sulayman Al-Mujahir (reciting poem): "In the race against fate, they struggle to contain
"The light of truth from making gain after gain.
"Sitting in this cell, I can never complain,
"While countless other victims are sharing my pain."
On April 30, 2014 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released an audio titled "A Comment On The Latest American Bombardment On Yemen." The announcement, released by AQAP's media wing Al-Malahem on the jihadi forum Al-Fida'a, was delivered by senior AQAP official in Yemen Jalal Balli'd Al-Marqashi, AKA Hamza Al-Zinjibari.
A new Twitter account, Sahara Emirate recently began tweeting images of mujahideen in the Sahara, specifically in northern Mali (Azawad). The account touts itself as an outlet delivering news from the "jihadi scene of the Sahara Emirate." Although it doesn't claim to be an official account of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), it is tweeting exclusive images with the logo of AQIM's media company on them.
Pro-ISIS Jordanians In Jordan And Syria Threaten King 'Abdallah And His Regime
An upsurge has occurred recently in expressions of support for ISIS by Jordanians both within the kingdom and among the fighters in Syria. Unafraid to make direct threats against King 'Abdallah, they pledge to oust his regime. One example of this phenomenon is a group from the Jordanian city of Ma'an, called "The Ma'an Martyrs Brigade", which has sworn allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and promised to transform their city into a "lions' den" and a resistance center against the king and his regime. Another example is a Jordanian ISIS member in Syria who destroyed his Jordanian passport on camera and threatened that he and his comrades would slaughter the "head of the infidels" in Jordan (i.e., the king) as well as all members of Jordanian intelligence.
Al-Zawahiri Orders Jabhat Al-Nusra To Cease Fighting ISIS, Reiterates Call For ISIS Return To Iraq
On May 2, 2014, Al-Qaeda’s Al-Sahab media company released a new audio recording of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, his latest attempt to bring an end to the fighting between the jihad organizations Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which are fighting in Syria. The message consists of three parts: a review of the ties between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI); orders for Jabhat Al-Nusra; and a plea to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
In his introductory remarks, Al-Zawahiri says he had meant to stop speaking about the conflict between the jihad groups in Syria, but then he agreed to address this issue again in response to a request from UK-based cleric Hani Siba’i, a prominent voice in the global jihad movement. The latter asked Al-Zawahiri to clarify the truth regarding Al-Qaeda's connection to the ISI/ISIS and the reason for Al-Qaeda’s support for the ISI in the past (in contrast to its present lack of support for ISIS).
On April 24, 2014, the Al-Battar Media Foundation, the Shumoukh Al-Islam mouthpiece, published an interview with Salah Al-Din Al-Maqdisi, who is the brother of prominent Salafi-jihadi sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi. In it, Salah Al-Din tells the story of his jihad journey. He also says that he had decided at one point to leave Al-Qaeda, which, he says, had "changed and relapsed." Salah Al-Din calls upon others to follow in his footsteps and to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which, he says, is the one that will fulfill the Caliphate dream.
Abu Qatada: ISIS And Its Leaders Are 'The Dogs Of Hellfire'
Abu Qatada Al-Falastini
In a letter released by Jabhat Al-Nusra's media outlet Al-Basira on April 28, 2014, prominent Salafi-jihadi cleric Abu Qatada Al-Falastini denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In previous letters, the sheikh, who is currently on trial in Jordan on terrorism-related charges, denounced ISIS only implicitly, refraining from mentioning it by name. This time he does not mince words, but names ISIS explicitly and calls its members "criminals," and extremists who are damaging the jihad. He reproaches them for their "evil actions," and even calls the organization and its leaders Kharijites and "dogs of hellfire" (an epithet applied to the Kharijites). His statements are a thinly veiled call for all-out war against the organization.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar Declares Support For Al-Zawahiri
On April 29, 2014, Al-Murabitoun, a jihad group operating in the southern Algeria and northern Mali Sahara and led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, published a communiqué in support of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who has recently been attacked by the jihad organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
In the communiqué, which was posted on the jihadi forum Al-Fida, Belmokhtar emphasizes that Al-Zawahiri is one of the founders of the jihad movement and the successor of Osama bin Laden, thus repudiating ISIS’s charge that Al-Qaeda under Al-Zawahiri’s leadership has strayed from bin Laden’s legacy. He says: "Among the first [founders of the jihad movement] was the Sheikh of the Mujahideen, Abdallah ‘Azzam, may Allah have mercy on him; the leader of his time, the renewer [of jihad] sheikh Osama bin Laden; and his successor, the perseverant sheikh Abu Muhammad Ayman Al-Zawahiri, may Allah strengthen him and grant us and him a good fate. They treaded the most successful paths, [and were] merciful towards this nation in their da'wa and jihad… The entire nation came together in love and support for them, and in loyalty to them. In this manner we restored a major principle of state-formation and governance, namely a prudent leadership for the global jihad project, possessing a clear goal [achieved through] defined stages, along with a committed, pedagogical media [apparatus] that has provided the mujahideen and the Muslims with the rightly-guided Islamic awareness. May Allah reward them [‘Azzam, bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri].”
The Shumoukh Al-Islam forum, which has been inaccessible for several weeks, resumed normal operation today. The announcement about its return was posted on one of Shumoukh Al-Islam's Twitter account.
Ansar Al-Shari'a In Libya Holds Military Parade In Benghazi
On April 27, 2014, Ansar Al-Shari'a in Libya published images of a military parade the group held several days ago in Benghazi. The Al-I'tisam parade, the tweet said, was attended by rebel leaders, dignitaries, and leaders of Benghazi tribes.
Taliban commander Omar Khalid Khorasani (in center) surrounded by his aides
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released a video in which TTP commander Omar Khalid Khorasani reminds his followers that the current peace negotiations were begun by the Pakistani government with the intention to weaken the Taliban.
A Pakistani national identity card found of a militant killed in fighting with Afghan security forces in Afghan province of Paktika (source: Twitter.com/YusufDFI, April 29, 2014)
According to a Pakistani daily, thousands of militants have crossed into Afghanistan due to the fear that the Pakistani military may carry out an anti-Taliban operation in areas surrounding Mir Ali and Miranshah towns in North Waziristan.
Afghan Taliban Group Urges Its Fighters To Wage Jihad Based On Koran And Prophetic Traditions
The emir of the Afghanistan Islami Tehreek Fidayee Mahaz (The Martyrdom Front of Afghanistan's Islamic Movement), Haji Omar Khitab, has urged his fighters to wage jihad in the light of the Koran. The Afghanistan Islami Tehreek Fidayee Mahaz is a Taliban splinter group that is no longer recognized by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban's umbrella organization. The group advocates jihad as outlined in the Koran and Hadiths (sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad).
