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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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 22, 2023, Al-Zallaqa, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), released a statement in English and Arabic titled "Do You Fear Them? For Allah Is More Worthy That You Should Fear Him if You Are Believers" (Quran 9:13), which condemns the Russian Wagner Group's attacks on Malian civilians and calls on Muslims to wage jihad against the group and the Malian government.
On August 15, 2023, a podcast hosted by a Turkish-born journalist who is based in Idlib, Syria, announced a "special episode" with a woman currently living in Kabul, Afghanistan. The interview was aired in honor of the second anniversary of the "Taliban's victory in Afghanistan," which occurred on August 15, 2021.
After reporting in the recent weeks about increased movement of U.S. logistical convoys around Iraq and speculating about the possible import of this activity, Telegram channels affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq continue to threaten the U.S. forces and express a strong desire to target them. Some posts claim that this U.S. activity is part of a focused American plan to take over the border between Iraq and Syria, while others say that a direct conflict with the American forces is inevitable and is "closer than ever."
On August 19, 2023, the Syrian opposition website Euphrates Post published a report containing "exclusive" information regarding the newly appointed Islamic State (ISIS) caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi. Quoting unnamed "exclusive sources," the report claimed that the new caliph is of Iraqi origin.
On August 17, 2023, an online account shared a poster announcing an August 19 a live discussion about the recent efforts to release Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, an Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani neuroscientist held in a Texas prison for killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
An article in Issue 404 of ISIS' weekly newsletter Al-Naba', published August 17, 2023, tells the story of a Lebanese ISIS operative, 'Abd Al-Rahman Moussa Al-Qarahani, aka Abu Ahmad, who came to Iraq "recently" and died in a battle with Iraqi army and U.S. forces.
On August 17, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 404 of its weekly newspaper Al-Naba', which included an editorial mocking the Global Coalition's failure to undermine ISIS's foundation, noting that the efforts exerted, and the money spent have "evaporated" before ISIS fighters' adherence to the caliphate as a "divine" system of government.
Infographic In Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Claims Hundreds Killed In Dozens Of Attacks In Past Month
On August 17, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 404 of its weekly Al-Naba' newsletter. The issue included an infographic compiling the group's attacks during the Islamic (Hijri) month of Muharram, which approximately coincided with July 19 to August 17, 2023.
On August 11, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed that on August 9, its Syria province carried out an attack against two military buses transporting soldiers of the 17th Division of the Syrian Army, in the desert of Deir Al-Zour, killing and injuring dozens.
On August 23, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed that on August 21, fighters from its Central Africa Province (ISCAP) attacked gatherings of Christians with various weapons, in villages near Kisanga, in the Beni area of North-Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), resulting in the killing of at least 20 Christians.
On August 16, 2023, an anti-ISIS channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server, published what it claimed to be an internal circular issued by the Al-Karrar Office, which is part of the Islamic State (ISIS) General Directorate of Provinces.
On August 22, 2023, two media groups that support the Islamic State (ISIS) released posters urging supporters to join the ranks of jihad at home or abroad.
On August 18, 2023, a user of the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated encrypted Rocket.Chat server published posts in English asking for recommendations for secure chat applications and which apps are used by ISIS members.
On August 17, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) outlet published a Telegram post by a prominent female ISIS supporter defending the organization's legitimacy after the killing of its fourth leader and the appointment of a fifth.
In a Pashtu-language book titled "Balaams and the Prohibition of Jihad against Pakistan's Apostate System," the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) criticizes Pakistan's leading Islamic scholars Maulana Fazlullah and Muhammad Taqi Usmani as well as Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada for rejecting jihad in Pakistan. The book describes Balaam, a figure who is mentioned in both the Torah and the New Testament, as destroyer of people.
On August 6, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), reported that Al-Shabab fighters raided a pro-government militias barracks, in Mogadishu's Yaqshid district, resulting in the killing of three militiamen and the injuring of another.
Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's Somali affiliate, Al-Shabab, issued a statement claiming responsibility for a suicide operation targeting the headquarters of Somali forces which also houses local government in the capital city of Mogadishu, killing and wounding dozens, including senior officials.
On August 23, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), reported that Al-Shabab operatives carried out a "sweeping attack" which started with a suicide operation against a pro-Somali government militia base, in Mogadishu's Kaxda district.
On August 16, 2023, Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's Somali affiliate, Al-Shabab, issued a statement claiming responsibility for a suicide attack targeting Somali special forces on the outskirts of the city of Masagaway in Somalia's Galguduud region, which reportedly killed at least 15 soldiers and wounded nine more.
On August 23, 2023, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Hurras Al-Din, released a statement demanding an independent investigation into alleged spies for the International Coalition operating in the "liberated areas" of northwestern Syria.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate GSIM Claims Attacks In Mali And Burkina Faso Targeting Army Forces, Wagner Group
On August 23, 2023, the Al-Zallaqa Foundation, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), released two statements claiming attacks in Mali against the country's army and forces of the Russian Wagner private military company (PMC), as well as in Burkina Faso against that country's military.
On August 17, 2023, Al-Zallaqa, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), issued a statement accusing the Russian Wagner Group of massacring civilians in Mali's Koulikoro region.
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 17, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda outlet released a six-minute video following several recent burnings and desecrations of the Quran in Sweden by Salwan Momika, a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee.
On August 21, 2023, a prominent Al-Qaeda supporter published a lengthy post on Telegram inciting Muslims and jihadis in Idlib, Syria to rebel against Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad Al-Joulani, whom it accused of being an agent working for the U.S.-led Coalition.
On August 17, 2023, Telegram channels affiliated with Idlib-based Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) shared a statement issued by its General Command responding to news reports claiming that HTS has arrested its senior religious official, Iraqi-born Maysarah Al-Jubouri aka Abu Mariyah Al-Qahtani on charges of running an espionage ring within the group.
On August 22, 2023, a Telegram channel supporting the Idlib-based Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) posted a photoset showing the group's leadership attending a ceremony honoring commando fighters from the group's Al-Asa'ib al-Hamra' ("Red Bands") military unit which specializes in operations behind enemy lines.
On August 20, 2023, an anti-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Telegram channel reported that HTS's "first-line commander" and "drug dealer" Jihad 'Issa Al-Sheikh, also known as Abu Ahmad Zakour, was arrested by HTS security forces for having previously partnered with recently-arrested HTS religious official Abu Mariyah Al-Qahtani "in treason and collaboration with the [U.S.-led] coalition [against Islamic State (ISIS)]."
On August 17, 2023, a statement was published on several Telegram channels affiliated with rebels in Syria's Idlib area, which is controlled by jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). The three-page statement, accompanied by another three pages of signatures by more than a hundred clerics, mujahideen, and rebels, is ascribed to "a group of people with dignity and zealousness for honor inside and outside the liberated areas, and those who support them," and condemns the HTS-linked General Security Service (GSS) for routinely arresting suspects in surprise raids on their homes, heedless of the fact that some women may be inside who are not fully dressed.
On August 17, 2023, Telegram channels affiliated with Idlib-based Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) shared a statement issued by its General Command responding to news reports claiming that HTS has arrested its senior religious official, Iraqi-born Maysarah Al-Jubouri aka Abu Mariyah Al-Qahtani on charges of running an espionage ring within the group.
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 20, 2023, the online news portal "Asas Media," which opposes Lebanese Hizbullah, published an article titled "The Kahale Truck Carried American Weapons." The piece claimed that the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) smuggled weapons to Hizbullah and that the incident may cause the U.S. to shut down the Iraq-Syria border.
In the last two weeks, several websites associated with the Syrian opposition revealed new details about the depth of Hizbullah's involvement in the manufacture of drugs on Syrian soil, in coordination with the Syrian regime, and in the smuggling of these drugs out of the country. The reports spoke specifically about the manufacture of Captagon (a popular amphetamine drug) in eastern Syria and in the Damascus area, including a new form of the drug, and about the trafficking of drugs from Syria to Iraq.
On August 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned two Syria-based armed opposition groups, the Suleiman Shah Brigade and the Hamza Division, and three of the groups' leaders for being complicit in the commission of serious human rights abuses against the Syrian people.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) official media arm Umar Media recently launched a Pashtu-language magazine called Sada-i-Taliban ("Voice of the Taliban"). The cover of the first issue eulogizes TTP's slain emir Maulana Fazlullah, who is described as a martyr and features a lead article evaluating "The position of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on the government officials and oppressive armies of Pakistan."
