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 July 17, 2023, Ukraine's military intelligence service, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR), released a video showing Chechen volunteer forces ambushing a Russian military vehicle near Belgorod, Russia.
On July 17, 2023, a user on the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated Rocket.Chat server shared a post written in response to the latest protests in France following the police shooting of a Muslim Algerian teenager and the Quran burning in Sweden outside Stockholm's central mosque.
On July 14, 2023, Al-Kataib Media Productions, the media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a statement in English and Arabic condemning the latest Quran burning protest in Sweden, in which Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee, burned a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm's central mosque.
On July 12, 2023, a media entity linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) published a Tajik-language poster, titled "We Are Waiting Too," calling for lone wolf attacks in the wake of the recent protest in Sweden where an Iraqi refugee burned a Quran near a mosque.
Over the past few days, jihadi figures and media outlets continued joining Meta's newly-launched U.S.-based social media app Threads, posting about jihadi groups' attacks, leadership, and encouraging followers to use the app as a platform to promote shari'a and jihad.
WARNING – GRAPHIC: ISIS Weekly Features Exclusive Photos Of Operations In Mozambique, Nigeria, Iraq
On July 13, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 399 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue featured several exclusive claims of responsibility and previously unreleased photos documenting operations in its Mozambique, West Africa, and Iraq provinces.
A July 13, 2023 editorial in Issue 399 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba' newsletter, titled "Be Not Faint Of Heart, And Grieve Not," discussed the importance of steadfastness and perseverance in times of adversity, noting that the mujahideen are commanded to overcome hardships and persist in the fight against enemies until victory is achieved.
Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) Claims Attack In Southern Philippines
On July 17, 2023, the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) claimed responsibility for a July 13 attack in the Philippines' Maguindanao 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 July 18, 2023, the Syrian opposition-affiliated Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) published an article claiming that Islamic State (ISIS) families imprisoned at the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria have been forcing their children to marry under the age of 14, in order to produce offspring and swell the future ranks of ISIS members.
On July 13, 2023, two users of the Rocket.Chat server operated by the Islamic State (ISIS) discussed in English how to send donations to the group using cryptocurrency without being detected by law enforcement.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On July 19, 2023, a user of the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat published a post asking whether it there is a greater Islamic reward for carrying out a terrorist attack alone in the West than for travelling to join the ranks of ISIS and carrying out operations with other fighters.
A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet published commentary by a prominent female ISIS supporter, a poet and writer. The piece incited Muslims to wage jihad and reap the bountiful rewards promised to them.
On July 11, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel posted a 28-minute video produced by a pro-ISIS outlet. The video attempts to present ISIS and its branch in Yemen as the country's saviors and as the only force capable of protecting Yemeni Sunnis amid the many factions involved in the ongoing war.
On July 13, 2023, a Nigeria-based media outlet reported that Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has demanded a ransom for 13 people kidnapped by the group in Cameroon's Extreme-Nord Province in late June.
An anti-Islamic State (ISIS) channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server published commentary arguing that ISIS's July 13, 2023 editorial is paving the way for the announcement of the death of ISIS's fourth caliph Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi, and that the "war of attrition" strategy implemented following the fall of the last stronghold in Syria in 2019 has backfired and "failed miserably."
On July 16, 2023, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) issued statements claiming responsibility for attacks on UAE-backed forces in Yemen's southern Abyan governorate.
On July 10-11, 2023, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed a series of attacks targeting UAE-backed "mercenaries" in Yemen's Abyan Governorate, including one operation in which a drone was downed.
On July 17 and July 18, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), issued statements claiming attacks on pro-government militias and military bases in Mogadishu and southern Somalia.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Publishes Photos From Attack On Somali Forces' Military Base In Geriley
On July 16, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), published photos of Al-Shabab's July 13 attack on a military base belonging to government militias in the town of Geriley.
On July 13, 2023, Shahada News Agency, the media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), published a statement claiming that the group's fighters took control of the Somali town of Geriley, which hosts a strategic military base.
Leader Of Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab: Victory Is Near; We Must Be Patient
On July 16, 2023, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a 25-minute video of a speech by Al-Shabab commander to a group of fighters sitting on the ground in front of him. At the same time, the Shahada News Agency, the media outlet of Al-Shabab, published an article describing the video and the circumstances under which it was filmed.
On July 18, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda and anti-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet reported that Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM) had taken control of all the strongholds of the Islamic State in the Sahel Province (ISSP), in the Kama area, in the Hourara region, in Mali's Gao Province. As a result, a large number of ISSP operatives were reportedly forced to withdraw from the border area of Mali into Niger.
On June 15, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda outlet announced a new poster series titled "To The Lone Wolves In Bayt Al-Maqdis [Jerusalem; the term can also refer to Palestine as a whole]." This campaign appears to be a response to the escalation in confrontations between Israel and Palestinians in the form of terror attacks in the West Bank by lone operatives and organized groups.
On July 19, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel shared a poster featuring a quote from a lecture by slain Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri published on November 23, 2021, criticizing the United Nations.
On July 9, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda and anti-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel published a post accusing ISIS leadership of violating a fatwa issued by the group in 2014.
On July 3, 2023, a Syrian opposition website, published an "exclusive" investigative report supported by documents and evidence, which it claims reveals details about secret operational and intelligence collaboration between the Iran-backed militias in Syria, headed by Hizbullah and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Islamic State (ISIS), which has been going on for the past two years.
On July 14, 2023, a Syrian opposition website reported that the Iran-backed militias and the Syrian armed forces held a joint military parade in Al-Bukamal, east of Deir Al-Zour in northeastern Syria.
In a four-minute video posted July 16, 2023, on his Telegram channel the spokesman of the General Security Service (GSS) of the Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), addresses "rumors" that there was "an attempted to infiltrate the ranks of the GSS."
On July 14, 2023, an apparently new group within the FSA claimed responsibility for ambushing and "hunting down" an HTS official on the Idlib – Bab Al-Hawa road. The announcement added that pictures and footage of the operation, which is the group's second attack on HTS, would be posted on an anti-HTS Telegram channel.
As the economic situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, and the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in the country perceive the American presence in Iraq as an ongoing occupation and as gross interference on the part of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in Iraqi internal affairs, in mid-July several Shi'ite militias and Telegram channels that are affiliated with them issued calls to hold a violent demonstration opposite the U.S. Embassy on July 14.
On July 14, 2023, a demonstration was held in front of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad to protest the embassy's "intervention" in Iraq's affairs and America's ongoing military presence in the country. Behind the demonstration, which took place amid a severe electricity crisis in the country, were Iran-backed Shi'ite groups in Iraq.
On July 17, 2023, YouTube blocked 18 channels associated with Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis). Hours later, the Houthis' media center responded, condemning the removal as unfair and akin to terrorism.
On July 16, 2023, a Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq, shared a poster that reads: "Report enemy activity in Iraq. Your identity will remain confidential along with receiving full immunity for whoever cooperates."
On July 14, 2023, a Dubai-based Syrian opposition website published an article summarizing a detailed, three-part investigative report written by a Lebanese anti-Hizbullah journalist which claims that since February 2023 Hizbullah has been operating a new Captagon (A popular amphetamine) drug production facility in Deir Al-Zour Governorate in Syria.
