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.
On January 8, 2020, the media arm of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Syrian group Hurras, Al-Din released a recruitment video urging Muslims to take part in jihad.
Platform: Facebook
In the fourth issue of Ghazwa-e-Hind ("Battle of India") magazine, Pakistani jihadi group Hizbul Ahrar warns mujahideen in Pakistan against joining the "official jihad" of the Pakistani state.
EXCLUSIVE: Activity Review Of An English-Speaking, Female, ISIS Supporters' Network Online
This report reviews the activity of ten like-minded female Islamic State (ISIS) supporters writing in English, and operating several social media accounts mostly on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
EXCLUSIVE: Article In Jihadi Magazine Urges Syrian Women To Play Auxiliary Role In Jihad
Issue 7 of a jihadi monthly magazine, a issued on Telegram by several jihadi clerics based in Syria, contains a da'wah (preaching) article discussing women's role in jihad, written by an Egyptian-born preacher.
In an editorial published on January 9, 2020, in issue 216 of 'Al-Naba, the official newspaper of the Islamic State (ISIS), under the heading "And Allah is Greater in Might and Stronger in Punishment," the writer states that the enemies of ISIS are fighting among themselves as the result of a divine plot against them, which is a victory granted to the organization by Allah.
ISIS Video Celebrates Attacks In The Sahel As Defeat Of France
On January 10, 2020, the Islamic State (ISIS) West Africa Province released a video titled "Then It Will Be for Them A [Source of] Regret," showcasing recent successful attacks carried out by the organization in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso against the local armies and U.S. and French forces.
On January 10, 2020, the Islamic State (ISIS) in Pakistan released a statement saying that one of its fighters, had carried out a martyrdom operation that killed 20 Taliban fighters, including one officer, and wounded 40 others.
On January 14, 2020, Islamic State (ISIS) claimed two attacks – one on a Nigerien military base, and the other against a unit of Nigerien border guards in western Niger, near the border with Mali, killing 100 soldiers and 14 others respectively.
On January 9, 2020, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed that its fighters attacked a Christian village located in the town of Chibok in Borno state, Nigeria, killing five Christian men and abducting others, without specifying their number.
Activity Review Of ISIS-Affiliated Fighters In The Philippines, On Facebook
This report reviews a selection of 29 Facebook accounts which appear to be operated by Islamic State (ISIS)-affiliated fighters and supporters in the Philippines. It seems that ISIS-affiliated groups in the Philippines do not enforce the social media policy which the central ISIS media apparatus has imposed on individual fighters, forbidding them to post any content other than official ISIS material.
Pro-Al-Qaeda News Outlet Releases Android App
On January 15, 2020, a pro-Al-Qaeda media outlet released a news app for Android devices. The new app, which sends push notifications with news updates posted by the outlet, was released as a .apk file via the outlet's dissemination bot on Telegram.
On January 8, 2020, Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen released an audio recording of a statement delivered by its spokesman, on behalf of the organization’s general command, regarding its January 5, 2019, raid on the American Camp Simba base, in Kenya.
On January 8, 2020, the official news agency of the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda affiliate Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), published a statement released by the group's media arm claiming responsibility for a suicide attack on a checkpoint at the "Villa Somalia" presidential palace in Mogadishu, killing or wounding several people, including "senior officials."
On January 11, 2020, the Hurras Al-Din news agency published an article on Telegram in which the author expresses joy at the death of Qassem Soleimani.
Platform: Snapchat
A media outlet of Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), recently released two videos aimed at Syrian refugees and displaced persons. The videos address Syrians who have fled their homes due to the ongoing civil war, particularly those from Idlib, who were recently displaced by Russian bombing.
On January 1, 2020, a rebel-affiliated media outlet reported that a Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) military court had sentenced Abu Al-'Abd Ashidda', a former HTS military commander, to two years in prison.
On January 9, 2020, the Telegram channel of the Gaza-based Hamas military wing, 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades (Al-Qassam Brigades), posted a report that says that the number of Palestinians subscribed to Al-Qassam's service on WhatsApp was the "highest" in 2019 and that it has 15,000 subscribers from Arab and Muslim countries.
Hizbul Ahrar, a terrorist group that emerged from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban), has announced the launch of "Operation Shakeel Ahmad Haqqani" with attacks in the Pakistani tribal region.
According to an Urdu daily, the 11th round of the U.S.-Taliban talks have begun in Doha. U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled the U.S.-Taliban talks in Doha in early September 2019, following which the tenth round of talks were held unofficially.
Afghan Taliban Destroy Telecom Transmission Towers In Jawzjan Province, Afghanistan
According to a news website, the Taliban terrorists have destroyed three telecom towers in the Darzab district of Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province. The district was seized by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) on December 31, 2019.
