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 December 16, 2022, a supporter of the ISIS shared a post on ISIS-operated server on Rocket Chat, discussing the protests against rising fuel prices which erupted in several Jordanian cities, including Maan. During one of the protests, a senior police officer was gunned down.
As protests against rising fuel prices have broken out in several Jordanian cities, pro-ISIS jihadis have continued to promote posts urging protesters to increase violence and wage jihad to address their problems. The protests in Jordan have also revived religious disputes between officials and supporters of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which severed its ties with Al-Qaeda in 2016, and pro-Al-Qaeda loyalist clerics.
During the final stages of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with Morocco's arrival at the semi-finals and failure to qualify for the final, pro-ISIS and pro-Al-Qaeda jihadi clerics shared posts criticizing other fellow clerics and common Muslims for characterizing and misinterpreting Morocco's advancement as an achievement for Islam and Muslims.
An English-language Telegram channel believed to be operated by a British jihadi preacher primarily shares videos and posts by a Michigan-based pro-ISIS preacher. On November 30, 2022, the project published a long post on its Telegram channel claiming that YouTube's limiting of "almost all of our videos" is a blessing, as it "purifies our intentions."
On December 14, 2022, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Sahel Province claimed it had killed more than 100 members of the "apostate Al-Qaeda militia" in clashes lasting several hours near the village of Tagalelt, in Mali's Ménaka Region, near the border with Niger.
On December 15, the ISIS released issue 369 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue featured an article providing additional details on a December 12 ISIS suicide attack on the Longan Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, which resulted in at least 30 casualties.
Issue 369 of Al-Naba', the official weekly newsletter of the ISIS, dated December 16, 2022, contained an editorial titled "Why Do You Say One Thing And Do Another," which criticized "tyrant rulers" in the region for failing to help Muslims and exploiting their grievances in pursuit of their own political and partisan agendas.
ISIS In Iraq Releases Video Vowing 'Unending' War On 'Unbelievers,' 'Hypocrites'
On December 15, 2022, ISIS's Iraq Province released an eight-minute and 34-second video showing a local commander saying that ISIS's jihad is ongoing, even when its leaders die, and threatening that the war against the Christians and the Jews and "their quislings" will be unending.
ISIS Syria Province Fighters Pledge Allegiance To New Caliph In Video
On December 19, 2022, the Islamic State's Syria Province released a video documenting its fighters pledging their allegiance (bay'ah) to the new ISIS Caliph, Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi.
ISIS Khurasan And Somalia Province Fighters Pledge Allegiance To New Caliph In Videos
Over the past few days, two more ISIS provinces issued videos pledging their allegiance (bay'ah) to new Caliph Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi.
Islamic State East Asia Province Fighters (ISEAP) Pledge Allegiance To New ISIS Caliph
On December 17, 2022 The Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) released a photo set showing its fighters in the Philippines pledging allegiance to new ISIS Caliph Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi.
In Video, ISIS Pakistan Province Fighters Pledge Allegiance To New Caliph
On December 20, 2022, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Pakistan province released a six-and-a-half- minute video documenting its fighters pledging allegiance (bay'ah) to new ISIS Caliph Abu Al-Husayn Al_Husayini Al-Qurashi.
Pro-ISIS Channel Claims Attacks On Christians In Uganda
On December 13, 2022, a pro-ISIS Telegram channel published two videos documenting attacks on Christian villages of in Uganda's Ntoroko region, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on the night between December 12 and December 13.
On December 20, a pro-ISIS channel on the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat server shared a link to an 11-minute video titled "Those are My Commanders," produced by a pro-ISIS outlet.
On December 20, 2022, a pro-ISIS outlet released a 15-minute video titled "In Revenge for the Chaste Women," highlighting the obligation to free ISIS prisoners detained in Syrian camps run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and containing footage of ISIS operations against the SDF, including the Ghuwayran prison break.
On December 21, 2022, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), claimed responsibility for an attack on UAE-backed forces in Yemen's Abyan Governorate, which reportedly killed and wounded five soldiers.
Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Media Arm Launches New Website
On December 17, the media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced the launch of its new website. The website includes official media material such as videos, statements, announcements, claims of responsibility, lectures and posters eulogizing AQAP martyrs.
A pro-Al-Qaeda outlet released the first issue of its bulletin, posting about it on Telegram on December 21, with a long post expanding on one of the bulletin's articles concerning the safe use of mobile phones.
On December 19, 2022, a pro-Al-Qaeda media outlet published the first issue of a bulletin focusing on a counterterrorism institute, the reason behind its founding, its objectives, and the role jihad supporters online can play in countering such "projects."
On December 20, 2022, The Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-linked General Security Services (GSS) released a 33-minute video on Telegram, YouTube, and Facebook which featured confessions by a group of so-called extremists, who detailed operations they allegedly carried out against Turkish forces, HTS, and other rebel factions in northwest Syria.
On December 15, 2022, several Telegram channels affiliated with Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and the HTS-backed Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) reported the launch of a "Warm In Winter" campaign to provide heating supplies and cash aid to displaced people living in camps across the Idlib and surrounding region in northern Syria.
On YouTube, New Syria-Based Uzbek Tactical Group Provides Training In Automatic Weapons
On December 17, 2022, a new media group that provides multimedia tactical training in Uzbek, released a 13-minute video on YouTube titled "Automatic Repairs," which instructs viewers on the handling and use of automatic weaponry.
Recently, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), a group of Uyghur mujahideen from the China-controlled Xinjiang Province, also known as East Turkestan, released two videos in the Uyghur language via its official media outlet.
A jihadi Telegram channel that opposes Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and often shares content discrediting its leader Abu Mohammad Al-Joulani shared posts praising Qatar for hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022.
On December 22, 2022, a Lebanese daily affiliated with Hizbullah published an article claiming that NATO weapons sent to Ukraine are being sold in Lebanon.
On December 15, 2022, an independent local media outlet based in Iraqi Kurdistan published a tweet stating that an American national has been missing for a week. The tweet noted that he was "staying" in southern and central Iraq.
On October 22, 2022, an influential Islamic da'wa (preaching, invitation) Instagram account that boasts more than 28,000 followers – posted a short-form video, or reel, laden with evocative symbolism that is often exploited by the ISIS to legitimize its activity.
On December 19, 2022, a Telegram channel linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq which regularly criticizes the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Alina L. Romanowski, published a post addressing Western media criticism surrounding the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup, during which Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani dressed the captain of the Argentinian team, Lionel Messi, in a traditional Arab bisht – a robe worn by men in Gulf countries on formal occasions.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On December 4, 2022, the Afghan Taliban's acting Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid held a meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Abu Dhabi, which is perhaps the first meeting between a head of state and a leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban).
Taliban Executive Order Bans Women From All Universities In Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) recently issued an executive order completely banning women from universities in Afghanistan. The Taliban has rejected international pressure to allow Afghan women to be educated. The order follows the existing ban on girls in schools after Grade Six.
Following the Chinese President Xi Jinping's three-day visit to Saudi Arabia that began on December 7, 2022, the Urdu-language website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) published an article examining the implications of the deepening ties between Riyadh and Beijing.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The emir of Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) and former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has warned of an imminent new war in Afghanistan and urged his supporters and party members to begin preparations for "another war."
On December 19, 2022, a day after jihadi inmates took over a Pakistani government Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) facility in the town of Bannu in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued a statement calling on the Pakistani government to grant the inmates safe passage.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) has released numbers of its attacks against Pakistanis security forces in various regions of Pakistan, especially in the lawless tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghan border, in November 2022, and of the resulting casualties among Pakistan's security forces.
The 14-minute second part of the video series "The Battles Are Intensified – 2," which Umar Media, the messaging arm of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) produced and released with Urdu and English subtitles, shows snipers targeting Pakistani security forces' convoys and checkpoints in various regions, particularly in the tribal districts of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
