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.)
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On August 12, 2022, India-born British-American author Salman Rushdie was stabbed during an event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. Minutes after the attack, law enforcement officials announced that the attacker, Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey resident, was arrested. Several media outlets noted that Matar's Facebook account, which was suspended shortly after his arrest, included pro-Shi'ite extremist content.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Reacting to the news that Indian-born British-American writer Salman Rushdie had been stabbed roughly ten times in New York, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the ruling Taliban jihadi organization) has warned that wherever in the world the blasphemers are, they will be killed.
An Australian pro-Islamic State (ISIS) preacher, a central figure in the Salafi and jihadi community in Australia and more broadly among English-speaking jihadis on social media, published on his Telegram channel a message stressing the significance of jihad as well as a poster celebrating the August 12, 2022, stabbing of Indian-born British-American author Salman Rushdie at an event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On August 12, 2022, as he was sitting onstage about to deliver a talk at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, Salman Rushdie, the British-American, 1981 Booker Prize-winning author was stabbed about 10 times. Rushdie's 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, provoked outrage among many Muslims due to the manner in which the Prophet Muhammad was depicted, and a fatwa calling for Rushdie's assassination was issued in 1989 by Ruhollah Khomeini who was the supreme leader of Iran at the time.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On August 12, 2022, a Telegram channel affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq celebrated the assailant who stabbed British author Salman Rushdie during an event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) Claims Suicide Attack Targeting Senior Taliban Leader In Kabul
On August 11, 2022, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for a suicide attack targeting senior Afghan Taliban ideologue.
Issue 351 of Islamic State (ISIS) weekly magazine Al-Naba', dated August 11, 2022, reported an attack by the organization's fighters on a government bus transporting Hindus and Christians in Ajaokuta, in Nigeria's Kogi State, killing five.
On August 12, 2022, the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) published an official claim of responsibility for a jailbreak that it alleges occurred on August 10, 2022, at Kakwangura Prison in the city of Butembo in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
ISIS Editorial Warns Operatives, Supporters Not To Be Influenced By 'Hypocritical' Critics
On August 11, 2022, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 351 of its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', which featured an editorial titled, "Those who Lay in Wait, Screeching."
A leading article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan" – a monthly magazine published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K) – accuses the Afghan Taliban of digressing from shari'a and committing unbelief by accepting the underlying principles of the UN Charter which ISIS-K says constitute unbelief.
An article in the latest issue of the jihadi magazine "Voice of Khurasan," which is published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), presents Canada-based institution Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs as a Jewish conspiracy against the mujahideen. The organization is known for building bridges in conflict situations.
An article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," a jihadi magazine published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), includes the second part of a series in which it accused the Canada-based Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of a Jewish conspiracy against Islam.
The latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," a monthly magazine published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), includes the third part of a series of articles accusing the Canada-based Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of infiltrating jihadi organizations to convince their members to leave the path of jihad.
On August 12, 2022, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel that covers news related to Saudi Arabia, celebrated an explosion that took place that day in Jeddah.
On August 15, 2022, a prolific pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet published a poster titled "Successive Blows: Killing Of Hateful Taliban [Ideologue]" celebrating ISIS-K killing of a prominent Afghan Taliban leader.
Pro-ISIS Outlets Promote Campaign To Combat 'Fanatics' On Social Media
In recent days, multiple pro-ISIS Telegram channels have called on supporters to join a social media campaign aimed at warning Muslims of the danger of "fanaticism" spreading among their communities and on social media. The campaign coincides with Ashura, a holiday observed by Muslim Shi'ites to commemorate the Prophet's grandson, Imam Hussain, who was killed in the seventh century in a battle in Kerbela, Iraq.
Pro-ISIS Preachers In The West To Hold Joint Web Conference On Freeing Muslim Prisoners
On August 15, 2022, two pro-Islamic State (ISIS) preachers based in Western countries shared a poster on their Telegram channels promoting an upcoming online conference, in which both are slated to speak.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel released a two-part video series aimed at inciting Yemen's Sunni Muslims against the country's primary political actors: the Shi'ite Houthis, the internationally-recognized Republic of Yemen Government (RYG), and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), as well as regional and international actors involved in the country's conflict, including the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the U.S.. The following MEMRI JTTM report reviews the first videos in the pro-ISIS video series "Oh Sunnis In Yemen: Where Are You Going?"
On August 15, 2022, several pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channels shared a tweet by the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR) to Defeat ISIS, commemorating the eighth anniversary of the ISIS massacre of the Al-Shu'aytat tribe in Deir Al-Zour, Syria.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel released a two-part video series aimed at inciting Yemen's Sunni Muslims against the country's primary political actors: the Shi'ite Houthis, the internationally-recognized Republic of Yemen Government (RYG), and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), as well as regional and international actors involved in the country's conflict, including the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the U.S.
On August 10, 2022, the official news outlet of Al-Qaeda's Somali-affiliate Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), published an article detailing the group's execution of six alleged spies for U.S., Somali, and Kenyan intelligence in Jilib, in Juba province in southern Somalia.
Over the past few days, the media arm of Mali-based Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel GSIM (Group for Support of Islam and Muslims - in Arabic Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin), and an associated media group issued claims of responsibility for two attacks carried out by GSIM against the Malian army and Wagner militias.
Following the visit by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Michele Sison to Bangladesh on August 6-9, users of Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat speculated about the trip.
Pro-Al-Qaeda Media Center Releases Short Video Praising Deceased Al-Qaeda Leaders As 'Martyrs'
On August 16, 2022, a pro-Al-Qaeda outlet released a two-minute 26-second video clip titled "Success in Life," praising death by "martyrdom" and eulogizing Al-Qaeda leaders killed in battle or assassinated by enemy forces.
On August 16, 2022, several pro-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Telegram channels shared a photoset of eight photos released by the media arm of HTS.
On August 11, 2022, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced at a press conference that was held on the margins of the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara that, "we need to somehow come to terms with the opposition and the regime in Syria. Otherwise, there will be no lasting peace. At the Non-Aligned [Movement] summit, while chatting with other ministers in Belgrade, I also had a short chat with the Syrian Foreign Minister."
On August 14, 2022, anti-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) sources on Telegram claimed that the group expelled a religious official saying he was dismissed due to his critique of the group's training curriculum, which he argued included many mistakes that contradict Islamic law.
On August 6, 2022, the Telegram channel of the Balagh monthly magazine, published by independent, anti-Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) jihadi clerics in Syria's Idlib region, released Issue 39 of the magazine.
On August 16, 2022, a Syrian opposition website published an "exclusive" report claiming that the Iran-backed Abu Al-Fadl Al-'Abbas militia carried out the August 15 rocket attack on the Global Coalition's military base in the Al-Omar oilfield in eastern Deir Al-Zour, Syria.
Drone Attack Repelled On U.S. Al-Tanf Base In Syria, Attack Still Unclaimed
On August 15, 2022, an attack using multiple drones was carried out on the U.S. Al-Tanf military base in Syria, also known as Al-Tanf Garrison, located in the triangle area between Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
Syria-Based Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Video Documenting Attack On Syrian Army Near Hama
On August 10, 2022, the website of the Syria-based Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) published a two-minute-long video showing the group's fighters firing heavy artillery at Syrian military forces northwest of Hama.
On August 15, 2022, an Iran-backed militia released a claim of responsibility on its Telegram channel for a barrage of four 122 mm Grad rockets fired at "the Turkish occupation base" at Zlikan in Mosul, Iraq.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Delivering a Friday sermon at a mosque in Kabul, Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar condemned the July 31, 2022 drone strike that killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, saying it is an act of terrorism and an attack on Afghanistan's territorial integrity.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Following the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in a U.S. drone strike on a safe house in Kabul on July 31, 2022, senior Pakistani commentators Muhammad Amir Rana and Kamran Yousaf wrote articles examining the implications of Zawahiri's killing for the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan.
