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, a senior religious official in the Idlib-based jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which severed its ties with Al-Qaeda in 2016, published a post on his Telegram channel advising Al-Qaeda branches to dissolve the organization and to reconsider their jihadi agenda and narrative.
On August 23, 2022, two Telegram channels affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq claimed responsibility for an alleged cyberattack against dozens of Ukrainian websites, to avenge the death of Darya Dugina, the daughter of prominent Russian political philosopher and senior Putin adviser Alexander Dugin.
On August 22, 2022, a Telegram channel operated by a Syria-based U.S.-born jihadi reporter shared a 48-minute video, which it also livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter. The video featured an interview with a Canada-based pro-Al-Qaeda cleric in which he discussed the recent attack by Al-Qaeda's Somalia affiliate, Al-Shabab Movement, on the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu.
By N. Mozes
On the tenth anniversary of the July 18, 2012 suicide attack on a bus of Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, in which six Israelis were killed and several dozen wounded, Hizbullah supporters posted a photo on social media of the perpetrator, Muhammad Hassan Al-Husseini, which depicts him as a boy, as a member of Hizbullah's Imam Al-Mahdi Scouts Association.
On August 19, 2022, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet released a poster on Telegram which featured photos of two men in crosshairs next to a gun. The poster's text threatened in English: "Soon our hands will reach you in your own backyards."
ISIS Supporter Publishes Video Allegedly Showing Narcotics Shop In Afghanistan
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 19, 2022, a user of the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated Rocket.Chat server published a 15-second video titled "The Emirate Of Narcotics," which purportedly showed narcotics being sold in an Afghanistan shop. The title alludes to the Afghan Taliban's "Islamic Emirate."
In issue 352 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly magazine Al-Naba', dated August 18, 2022, an editorial titled "Woe to You! Where is He Taking Your Minds?" professes shari'a to be superior to all forms of manmade law and credits ISIS for restoring shari'a in modern times.
ISIS Weekly Eulogizes Iraqi Commander, Praising His Jihadi Journey As 'Model' To Be Followed
On August 18, 2022, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 352 of its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', which included an article titled "The Story Of A Martyr," eulogizing an Iraqi-born military commander whom it described as a "knight of the battle."
A report in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," a monthly magazine published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), details ISIS attacks in the Afghan provinces of Kabul, Herat, Kunar, Kunduz, the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, and other areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan during the month of Dhu Al-Hijjah 1443 Hijri (July 2022).
An article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," which is published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K) – eulogizes an Afghan fighter who rose in the ranks of ISIS to become a leading commander for several cities.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
An article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," which is published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), underlines the religious spirit that drove early Muslims to fight for the cause of Islam alone and cites lessons from the life of celebrated early Islamic military commander Khalid ibn Walid.
An article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," a monthly magazine published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), narrates the story of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) as the founder of tawheed ("Islamic monotheism") who destroyed shirk ("idolatry").
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
A lead article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," a monthly magazine published by the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), presents evidence that Muhammad desired jihad and martyrdom. The article includes photos of armed kids training for jihad.
In a Pashtu-language magazine, the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K) has described Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada, the emir-ul-momineen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the ruling Taliban jihadi organization) as a "puppet" in the hands of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of the Pakistani military, which has nurtured and aided the Afghan Taliban in their war against U.S. and NATO forces, and before them against the Soviets, in Afghanistan for roughly four decades.
Pro-ISIS Media Team Calls For Organized ISIS Media Dissemination As Most Important Means Of Support
On August 23, 2022, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel published a poster titled "The Most Important Means Of Support," urging ISIS supporters on social media to take part in an "organized" effort to disseminate official and unofficial ISIS news and media productions.
On August 22, 2022, a pro-Islamic-State (ISIS) Telegram channel published a post criticizing the decision of Syria's Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) to expel its religious official, Abu Al-Fath Yehya Al-Farghali, arguing that the group did so in order to appeal to the international community.
On August 22, 2022, a member of a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram group forwarded a post from a pro-ISIS Telegram channel reporting two recent attacks on police in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province, bordering Malaysia.
Members of a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram group discussed whether the organization is currently discouraging new recruits from joining its branch in Syria, after the commander of ISIS fighters in the Syrian desert gave an interview to the organization's official weekly Al-Naba', in which he seemed to call on supporters to travel to countries other than Syria for jihad.
On August 22, 2022, a pro-Islamic-State (ISIS) Telegram channel published a post celebrating the death of the top counterterrorism official in Morocco's General Directorate for National Security (DGST) and the former head of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), arguing that he was among the "tyrants" that fight Islam and monotheists in the country.
On August 19-20, 2022, Shahada, the media arm of the Somali-based Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab, provided continuous coverage of an Al-Shabab attack on the Hayat Hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
On August 22, 2022, the media arm of Somali Al-Qaeda-affiliate Al-Shabab, issued a statement titled "The Somali Government's State of Fear and Panic Following the Extended Inghimasi [Commando-style] Attack on the Hayat Hotel in the Capital Mogadishu."
Al-Shabab Releases Video Highlighting Distribution Of Rations To Somali Locals Impacted By Drought
On August 21, 2022, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's Somali affiliate Al-Shabab released a video in Somali titled "Relief Campaign for Those Affected By Drought in The Islamic States – Part One."
On August 21, 2022, a Canada-based pro-Al-Qaeda cleric shared a short article on his Telegram channel and his Twitter account which refers to a controversy regarding the modus operandi of Al-Qaeda's Somali affiliate Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab).
On August 20, 2022, multiple sources based in the rebel-controlled Idlib region of northwestern Syria reported that an elderly resident of Kafteen village, north of Idlib, had been shot dead along with his wife by unknown assailants the night before, on their way home.
On August 17, 2022, Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) published a nine-minute video on its website documenting its fighters celebrating Eid Al-Adha in Afghanistan. This is the second time this year that the jihadi group, which has been in Syria for years, has released a publication documenting its fighters' activities in Afghanistan.
On August 12, 2022, a resident of the area north of Idlib in Syria posted on Facebook an "urgent call" to the Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and its leader, Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, protesting repeated "harassment" of locals by members of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), a group of Uyghur fighters from the China-controlled Xinjiang province which is closely aligned with HTS.
On August 17, 2022, a Syria-based Chechen jihadi group issued a statement sharply criticizing the Afghan Taliban for meeting with Adam Delimkhanov, a Chechen member of the Russia's State Duma who fought the Chechens.
On August 21, 2022, three jihadi preachers held an online conference called "Free Muslim Prisoners," described as "an international conference on the plight of Muslim prisoners around the world and our Islamic responsibility."
Iran-Backed Group In Iraq Claims Fifth Attack In Two Months On A U.S. Logistics Convoy
On August 24, 2022, an Iran-backed Shi'ite group in Iraq, claimed responsibility for an attack carried out on the same day at 22:30 against "a logistics support convoy of the American occupation in the Al-Muthanna (Al-Samawah) Governorate" in southern Iraq.
On August 19, 2022, a new group claimed responsibility for an August 12, 2022 drone attack on the Ali Al-Salem airbase in northwestern Kuwait which "houses the American enemy."
In an article he tweeted on August 13, 2022, the secretary-general of the Al-Nujaba movement, called on Al-Nujaba supporters to heed the January 2022 call of Iranian Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei to wage online "information jihad" in order to confront the "soft war" the enemies are waging against the Muslims, especially on social media.
