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.
Map courtesy: outlookindia.com
On June 15, the Pakistan Army launched a military operation, code-named Operation Zarb-e-Azb, against the Taliban and other non-Pakistani jihadis present in North Waziristan Agency (NWA), one of the seven tribal districts situated along the Afghanistan border. There were indications that the army might launch the operation, and some jihadi fighters had in fact begun leaving the district in search of safe places, mostly in Afghanistan but also elsewhere in Pakistan.
In recent years, the Pakistani military establishment had rejected international calls for a military operation in North Waziristan, hitherto a major hub of Pakistani Taliban, Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda, as well as Uzbek, Chechen and Uyghur militants. However, the timing of Operation Zarb-e-Azb ("Strike Of Prophet Muhammad's Sword" – "Azb" being the name of the sword he used) is in question, with pro-military advocates saying the June 8-9 Taliban assault on the Jinnah International Airport of Karachi was the immediate cause, while others argue that Operation Zarb-e-Azb was timed to push the pro-Pakistan militants into Afghanistan and garner strategic influence there ahead of the U.S. troop withdrawal.
The matter is also complicated because the Pakistani establishment continues to harbor a number of jihadi organizations which roam freely in Punjab province, namely Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ, which is also known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). These groups survive with the complicity of the Pakistani military, and questions remain whether the military will act against them.
On June 29, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released an English-language video celebrating the successful elimination of the Iraq-Syria border in border-areas under its control. The 15-minute video was released by the Al-Hayat Media Group, a newly-created ISIS media branch of aimed at Western and non-Arabic-speaking audiences. It shows a Chilean fighter nicknamed Abu Safiyya giving a tour of the border area and describing the situation there. It should be noted that ISIS – which recently declared itself a Caliphate and proclaimed its leader, Ibrahim 'Awwad, AKA Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the Muslim Caliph – rejects the validity of separate nation-states and advocates uniting all Muslims under its own rule and leader.
ISIS Releases Videos Celebrating Erasure Of Border Between Iraq And Syria
Iraqi military vehicles burning following ISIS attack on border outpost
On June 29, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released two new videos celebrating the effective erasure of the border between Iraq and Syria following the organization's recent military achievements in northern Iraq. The first video, titled "Breaking the Borders", 12 minutes in duration, shows footage of the symbolic tearing down of the border, carried out by ISIS fighters, as well as short speeches delivered by ISIS leaders at the scene. The second video shows a Chilean ISIS fighter identified as Abu Safiyya give a tour of the destroyed border Iraqi border outpost.
'Jinny' – A British ISIS Fighter Active In Syria
A British fighter named Abdel Majed Abdel Bary, who is active on Twitter, has been fighting with ISIS in Syria since late 2013. According to information he provided on his Twitter account, he comes from a wealthy family in London that apparently shares his extremist views, and he used to be a rapper until he decided that such music was anathema to Islam.
Abu Dujana Al-Muhajir, a Canadian ISIS member fighting in Syria, devoted the second entry of his English language Tumblr account, posted on June 12, 2014, to a mujahid named "Abu Abdullah Al-Khorasani," who was recently killed in Iraq.
ISIS Fighter Abu Dujana Eulogizes Fellow Canadian Mujahid
Mustafa Kifah (aka Abu Talha al-Kanadi)
A Canadian ISIS fighter calling himself Abu Dujana Al Muhajir recently launched a series of entries in his English-language blog dedicated to fellow Canadians who died while fighting in Syria. He dedicated the first entry to a fellow Canadian fighter, Damian Clairmont, also known as Mustafa Kifah and Abu Talha Al-Kanadi. In the post, titled "From Islamophobe to Mujahid: [The] Journey of Abu Talha", Abu Dujana tells Abu Talha's story and also mentions some other Canadian fighters, exhorting Canadian Muslims to emulate them and join the jihad.
On July 1, 2014, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a statement in which it addressed the recent Islamic State (IS) advances in Iraq, as well as the ongoing rift among jihad groups in Syria. The statement, which was dated June 22, was released prior to the IS's caliphate announcement, the appointment of IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi as the caliph, and the IS's name change (from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, to IS). AQIM refers to IS by its former name throughout the statement.
AQIM Central Region Expresses Support For ISIS
On June 26, 2014, an audio recorded message of the qadi (judge) of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) central region, Abu 'Abdallah Uthman Al-Asimi, was released online. In it, Al-Asimi expresses support for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), while refuting the accusations that ISIS was an extremist group.
According to an Indian daily report, a Muslim youth from India is suspected of fighting alongside the jihadis of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq. The report indicates that the suspect, who was born in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was working in Singapore, from which he travelled to Syria.
Following are excerpts from the report:
"A 'lookout circular [bulletin]' has been issued against a 38-year-old man of Indian origin suspected to be fighting alongside the Sunni militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq. Indian airports and sea ports have been put on alert, should the man attempt to enter India. They have been given a description of the Tamil Nadu-born Singapore resident Haji Fakkurudin Usman Ali, who is also suspected to have participated in the civil war in Syria."
ISIS Releases Comprehensive Report On Its Activity In Aleppo Governorate
On June 29, 2014, the day before it declared a caliphate and changed its name to the Islamic State, the information bureau of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISIS) in the Aleppo governorate released, via its official Twitter account, a comprehensive, updated report on areas under its control in the governorate. The report presents updated data for the governorate, reviews ISIS' fighting in the Aleppo region, and lists the religious and civil services that it provides. Included with the report are charts, maps and images aimed at showing the normal, everyday activity underway in these areas.
Alleged Sunni Group Threatens Christians In Lebanon
A Twitter account for "Ahrar Al-Suna Ba'albek Brigade," allegedly belonging to a radical Sunni group known only from this account, published a threat to strike at Christians and churches in East Lebanon.
'Hizbullah–Bahrain' Takes Responsibility For Attack Against Security Forces In Bahrain
Resemblance of Hizbullah–Bahrain banner (left) vs. Hizbullah – Lebanon (right)
On June 30, 2014, a group claiming to be a Hizbullah branch in Bahrain claimed responsibility for an attack against security forces on the Bahraini island of Sitra. The attack, said the statement, was carried out by the "mujahideen of 'Hizbullah–Bahrain,' [who targeted] the forces of the usurping khalifi [a reference to the ruling Khalifa family of Bahrain] enemy in 'Sitra' Island."
Ajnad Misr Takes Responsibility For Attack On Cairo Presidential Palace
On June 30, 2014, the Ajnad Misr group released a statement taking responsibility for that day's attack near Egypt's presidential palace in Cairo. The attack killed at least two Egyptian police officers.
In the statement, Ajnad Misr said that the attack on the palace was in fact planned to take place ten days earlier, but was postponed after people wearing civilian clothing, whom the group believed to be innocent bystanders, arrived near the scene. A few hours later, Ajnad Misr said that the main IED was discovered by the presidential palace guard. Ajnad Misr added, however, that the palace guard was unable to detect a number of other IEDs that were planted in the area, allowing the group to detonate those in today's attack.
A SIMI militant arrested in 2008
Below are excerpts from an Indian media report indicating that the jihadi magazine Inspire, which is published by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), instructed members of the banned Indian militant group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) on how to make bombs and suicide vests to attack Narendra Modi, who is now prime minister of India:
"After reading a manual in al-Qaeda's online magazine Inspire, alleged Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) operatives fabricated an explosive-laden jacket for a fidayeen [suicide] attack on Narendra Modi, who was then touring the country as the … prime ministerial candidate… "
In recent years, Kashmir saw a series of anti-India protests
Following are excerpts from an Indian media report, which warns that a number of educated Kashmiri youth are disappearing in India's Jammu & Kashmir state, thereby sparking fears that they are being recruited by Pakistan-sponsored jihadi organizations and that they might be ideologically motivated by groups like Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and ISIS.
An official website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's umbrella organization led by Mullah Mohammad Omar) has published an appeal for donations, giving out phone numbers and email addresses to potential donors to contact them.
Mullah Abu Ahmad, who heads the Financial Commission of the Islamic Emirate, said: "If the Muslim supporters want to help our poor and helpless pious people and meet their needs, they should hand over their donations whether in cash or in any other form to the Financial Commission of the Islamic Emirate." He added: "For this purpose they can ask for the representatives and donation collectors of the Financial Commission inside Afghanistan, in the neighboring countries [such as Pakistan] or anywhere else in the world."
Mirza Ali Khan aka Faqir of Ipi – who led jihad against British rulers
Following are excerpts from an article in a Pakistani newspaper that traced the history of jihad back to 1936 in North Waziristan, one of the seven Pakistani tribal districts, where the Pakistani Army recently launched an operation against the Taliban and other jihadist forces:
"Mirza Ali Khan, Popularly Known As Faqir Of Ipi, The Saintly [Jihadi] Figure Who Challenged The Might Of The British; Faqir Of Ipi Became Part Of The Local Folklore And His Grave A Revered Shrine"
"To understand the Waziristan conundrum, go back 78 years. The year is 1936. The place is Mirali, North Waziristan. A Hindu girl converts to Islam and elopes with a young Pashtun schoolteacher. The girl's mother alleges forced conversion. A [British colonial] court sentences the youth to two years in jail and returns the girl to her parents. Incensed, tribesmen convene a jirga [assembly of elders] and declare a jihad on the British colonial power."
According to an Indian daily report, Sri Lanka has stopped visa-on-arrival services for Pakistani nationals after terror plots connecting Pakistan were revealed against India. As per the report, bomb explosions in a train in the southern Indian city of Chennai on May 1 and arrest of a Sri Lankan national who was involved in a reconnaissance of the U.S. and Israeli consulates in southern India were the immediate reasons behind the Sri Lankan decision.
Following are excerpts from the report:
"A bomb blast in a Chennai train in May revealed new plots against India by Pakistan-based jihadist groups using Sri Lanka and Maldives as transit points. A multinational investigation including Malaysia zeroed in on a Lankan national, Shakir Hussain [aka Zakir Hussain], who confessed that he had visited India over 20 times on reconnaissance trips. He told investigators... that he was facilitating militants from Maldives who were tasked with attacking American and Israeli consulates in Bangalore and Chennai, critical infrastructure like airports and power plants in Chennai among other targets."
