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 August 15, 2023, a user on an ISIS-operated server published a post containing an article.
On August 13, 2023, Al-Sahab, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released a three-page statement regarding recent Quran-burnings in Europe.
On August 7, 2023, the American 5th Fleet announced that more than 3,000 U.S. Sailors and Marines of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) had arrived in the Middle East on August 6, and had also moved into the Red Sea.
Al-Sabah Daily, a Turkish pro-government daily newspaper that publishes in English, reported on August 9, 2023, that the Turkish police has obtained a valuable database of lone wolf operatives affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS).
On August 15, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) Sahel Province released 14 photos showing fighters in Burkina Faso pledging loyalty to Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, who assumed the position of caliph on August 3.
On August 14, 2023, Islamic State (ISIS) affiliates in Pakistan and Mozambique issued photosets showing members of the group pledging allegiance to the group's new leader, Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi.
On August 3, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released an audio recording by the group's new spokesman, Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari, in which he announced the death of ISIS leader Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi, and the appointment of a new leader, Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.
On August 3, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released an audio recording of the group's new spokesman, Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari, announcing the death of ISIS leader Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi, and the appointment of a new leader, Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.
Islamic State Syria Province Releases First Photoset Of Fighters Pledging Allegiance To New Caliph
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) Syria Province released a photoset documenting fighters pledging allegiance to the new caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, who was announced as the new leader of the jihadi group on August 3.
On August 9, 2023, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) released a photoset documenting fighters in the Sambisa area of Nigeria pledging allegiance to the new caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, who was announced to be the new leader of the jihadi group on August 3.
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) released a photoset documenting fighters in two regions in Nigeria, the Al-Farouq and Banki areas, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State's (ISIS) new caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, who was announced to be the new leader of the jihadi group on August 3.
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State Sahel Province released a photoset documenting fighters in the Azaouagh region in Mali pledging allegiance to new caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, who was announced to be the new leader of the jihadi group on August 3.
On August 15, 2023, the Syrian opposition website Euphrates Post published an "exclusive" report claiming that the Islamic State (ISIS) has lost control of most of its cells in northeastern Syria, and that most of these cells' operatives have refused to pledge allegiance to the group's new leader, Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) Syria Province released a set of 20 photos documenting the groups' fighters in various parts of the province swearing allegiance to the fifth ISIS caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi, who was announced as the new leader of the jihadi organization on August 3.
On August 3, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released an audio of the group's new spokesperson, Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari, announcing the death of slain ISIS leader Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi, and the appointment of a new leader, Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.
On August 13, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel published an unofficial video showing two unidentified individuals in Sudan pledging allegiance to ISIS's new leader Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', Issue 403, which included an exclusive report claiming that fighters of the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) carried out an attack in the Philippines targeting the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, group based in Mindanao which reportedly made a peace agreement with the Philippine government in February.
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', issue 403, which included an exclusive claim of responsibility for an attack on Niger's military forces near the border with Nigeria.
ISIS Weekly Editorial Rejects Allegations That Group's Jihad Is Failing
On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 403 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue's feature article rejects allegations that ISIS's jihad is a failure.
Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Attack On Syrian Army In Deir Al-Zour
On August 11, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed its fighters in Syria Province carried out an attack on Syrian military forces in Deir Al-Zour, eastern Syria.
On August 11, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) Mozambique Province claimed that on August 8, its fighters attacked a "Crusader" Mozambican military barracks with various weapons in the Macomia district, northern Cabo Delgado province, resulting in the killing of seven soldiers and the injuring of 10 more.
Pro-ISIS Media Commemorates In Poster Slain Leaders As 'Martyrs'
On August 3, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) announced the death of the group's fourth caliph, Abu Al-Hussein Al-Husaini Al-Qurashi in a statement, naming his successor.
On August 14, 2023, Telegram channels that post in support of the families of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters held in Al-Hol and Roj detainee camps in northeastern Syria published posts decrying what they described as the torture of detainees in "secret prisons" of Al-Hol and Roj.
The latest issue of an English-language magazine of the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) features several articles on Afghan Taliban leaders.
On August 10, 2023, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed in a statement that the commander of the UAE-Backed Yemeni Security Belt forces, Abdul Latif Al-Sayyid was killed in an IED attack conducted by the group.
On August 10, 2023, Shahada News Agency, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), issued a statement claiming that American planes "committed a massacre of civilians" on August 9 in the city of Galhareri in Somalia's Galguduud region.
On August 11, 2023, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) issued a statement claiming the group killed a prominent commander of the UAE-backed Al-Hizam Al-Amni (Security Belt) forces in an attack the previous day, which also killed another leading officer.
On August 15, 2023, a media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), reported about two operations launched by GSIM fighters against the Malian army and United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
The official outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), issued a statement dated August 5 claiming that the group had imposed a siege on the village of Boni, in Mali's Mopti Region, which was continuing into its second week.
On August 14, 2023, Al-Sahab, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, published a special issue of its bulletin, calling on supporters to put their internal differences aside and behave with forgiveness and tolerance toward each other.
On August 12, 2023, the military command of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Al-Shabab, released a statement claiming responsibility for several attacks on the outskirts of Mogadishu and Kismayo, Somalia, which reportedly resulted in the death and injury of 50 Somali special forces soldiers and pro-government militiamen.
On August 13, 2023, Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's Somali affiliate, Al-Shabab, published a report and photos documenting an August 4 Al-Shabab attack on a military base and village near the city of Dolow, located in Somalia's Gedo region.
An anti-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Telegram channel posted an "exclusive" report stating that a senior HTS religious official had been arrested on the previous day at the order of HTS leader Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani on charges of running an espionage ring within the group.
On August 14, 2023, an official media outlet of the Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) released a video titled "Men of Revenge," presenting the details of a Special Forces operation against a Syrian forces operations room in northern Latakia, Syria.
A Syrian opposition website recently published an article providing details about facilities of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria and referenced an earlier article which provided further details about these facilities.
Pro-Syrian Regime Group Claims Several Missile Attacks On U.S. Bases In Eastern Syria
A pro-Syrian regime group released a statement claiming responsibility for a same-day series of attacks against bases in Syria housing American forces.
On August 14, 2023, the Iran-backed Iraq-based Al-Nujaba Movement militia published a video simulating the assassination of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi expat living in Sweden who in recent months has publicly burned copies of the Quran, the Iraqi flag, and photos of Imam Hussein.
Iraq's National Communications and Media Commission (NCMC) announced on August 8, 2023, that it had instructed the media outlets in the country to stop using the term "homosexuality" and replace it with "the correct term: sexual perversion."
On August 15, 2023, a hacker group affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed on Telegram that it downed the homepage of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
In the recent days, Telegram channels affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq have reported increased movement of American logistical convoys around Iraq.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, Movement of Pakistani Taliban) has released a new video biography of slain TTP fighter Hamal Baloch, aka Anas.
On August 5, 2023, the state-owned Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) published a new audio of a speech by Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the defense minister of the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In the speech, which is in Pashtu, he essentially upholds the global meaning of jihad.
