The following are 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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Ihsanullah Ihsan, spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack on a Pakistani Air Force (PAF) base in Kamra, Punjab province, according to Pakistani media sources. At least eight TTP militants and a Pakistani security official were killed in the course of the five-hour attack that began at 2 AM on Thursday, according to a report on the website of The Express Tribune daily. The same PAF base was also attacked in October 2009. Ihsan said that TTP operatives carried out the attack in revenge over the killings of Baitullah Mehsud, the TTP Emir who was killed in a drone attack in August 2009, and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a May 2011 U.S. raid. According to the report, the TTP spokesman warned that the Taliban can "attack at will, and will also target other locations."
On August 5, 2012, the third issue of the online Al-Qaeda Airlines magazine was published on the Shumoukh Al-Islam jihadi forum. The magazine, authored by "'Abdallah Dhu Al-Bajadin," a prominent weapons and explosives expert, offers detailed information on the home manufacture of ricin and nicotine, two highly toxic chemicals. Similar to the first two issues of the magazine, the current issue's stated purpose is to assist mujahideen interested in executing attacks in the West as part of Al-Qaeda's strategy to wage a war of attrition against the U.S. and its allies. The third issue was released as a 346-page PDF file compiling material from various internet sources, in addition to five short video clips, four of which demonstrate some methods for the home manufacture of ricin and nicotine. The remaining video clip, along with a Word document containing previously released Al-Qaeda material, focuses on instigating lone wolf operations.
On August 10, 2012, the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam announced the launching of a new subsection on its forum dedicated entirely to providing translated jihadi-related material. The forum acknowledged the importance of translation – the "vast field and important weapon in the path of da'wa and jihad" – in delivering the mujahideen's message across the globe. The subsection is to include translations provided by the official media wings of the various jihadi groups, as well as translations submitted by forum members.
Posters disseminated by a previously unknown militant group have recently appeared in the Kashmir Valley, threatening to kill girls or disfigure their faces in acid attacks unless they observe purdah (the requirement to separate the sexes and for women to wear the veil and conceal themselves) and stop using mobile phones, according to an Indian website. The posters were signed "Lashkar Al-Qaeda" and "Al-Qaeda Mujahideen" and were posted in various places in the Shopian district of southern Kashmir. One of the posters read: "We appeal to the people to ensure purdah [among] their girls. They should not allow their girls to go out of their homes without purdah. If we spot any woman without purdah, we will sprinkle acid on her face." According to a report on the website of the newspaper Daily News & Analysis, the group also warned: "If we spot any girl using [a] mobile phone, she will be shot dead instantly."
Jihadi Extremists Gaining Foothold In Central Russia
On July 19, 2012, Russia's Tatarstan Republic, a Muslim-majority region located in the oil-rich center of the country, was shocked by two deadly attacks on the republic's leading clerics. The republic's mufti, Ildus Faizov, was hospitalized with moderate injuries after his car was blown up on a street in the capital, Kazan. One hour earlier, Faizov's powerful former deputy, Valiulla Yakupov, was shot dead outside his home in a different part of the city. These clerics' pro-Kremlin and anti-Islamist stance gave rise to suspicion that they were targeted by fundamental Islamists displeased by their cooperation with Moscow and their denunciation of Islamist activity. This suspicion was strengthened by the fact that, on the day of the attacks, Tatarstan militants issued a video in which they reiterated their allegiance to Dokka Umarov, leader of the "Caucasus Emirate," and announced that their jihad activities would expand to the entire Volga and Ural regions. Moreover, on August 4, they issued another video in which they claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Online Jihadi Offers Design Tools For Creating Jihadi Propaganda
On June 14, 2012, an Ansar Al-Mujahideen Arabic Forum user going by the handle "Gharib" posted tips and links to tools to be used in creating graphics for jihadi-related media. The post included links to Archive.org, where users can download Adobe Photoshop, Arabic font packages, and stock images of weapons and mujahideen.
"Al-Mujahideen Fi Misr," described on its webpage (http://ansarsharia.blogspot.com) as an "unofficial blog aboutmujahideen in Egypt," published a communiqué dated August 15, 2012, by a group calling itself "Al-Salafiyya Al-Jihadiyya in Sinai" in which it declared that since the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution, it had never harmed even a single Egyptian soldier. The group called on the Egyptian military to halt its indiscriminate aggression against the Sinai residents and tribes, and not to drag the mujahideen into a war they did not want, as their true enemy was the "Zionist enemy."
Jihad Group Condemns Egypt's Campaign Against Mujahideen In Sinai
The jihadi website almaqreze.com, owned by prominent Salafi-jihadi sheikh Dr. Hani Al-Siba'i (a member of the Shura Council of the Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad website), has posted a new communiqué by the "Sunni Stream for the Rescue of Egypt", a jihad group that announced its establishment in January 2011. The communiqué, dated August 16, 2012, condemns Egypt's "attacks of collective slaughter" against the mujahideen in Sinai. This campaign against the mujahideen, it says, is ostensibly aimed at punishing the perpetrators of the August 5, 2012 attack on Egyptian soldiers in Rafah, for which the mujahideen have never claimed responsibility; in fact, they have publically renounced this attack, which was probably carried out by Israel. The group states further that Mursi has betrayed the principles of Islam and lost all credibility, because his actions are aimed at appeasing Israel and the U.S. According to the communiqué, the U.S. has implicitly threatened that, should Mursi fail to purge Sinai of mujahideen, it will stage a military intervention there in order to defend Israel and the pipeline supplying it with gas.
Burma – A New Cause For Global Jihadis
In recent weeks, following deadly sectarian clashes in Myanmar between Buddhists and Muslims, jihadi groups and online jihadi activists have launched a campaign to raise awareness over the plight of Muslims there, with some even calling for action and threatening attacks against Myanmar. Many members on the jihadi forums discussed the topic, as did jihad sympathizers on the online social networks. One prominent jihadi media outlet, the Global Jihadi Media Front, published a 10- page account of the recent events in Myanmar, which it described as a premeditated assault by Buddhists in the Rakhine region on the Rohingya Muslim minority.
On August 14, 2012, an announcement was posted on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam declaring the establishment of "Al-Dharaghem (Lions) Media Foundation." The goal of the company, according to the announcement, is to "support truthful jihadi media, publish [materials] to educate Muslims on religious issues, and correct misconceptions [Muslims have] in their minds."
