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.
Since the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) published its seminal report The Coming Storm – Terrorists Using Cryptocurrency on August 21, 2019, the JTTM research team has continued to monitor jihadi use of cryptocurrency along with MEMRI's Cyber & Jihad Lab (CJL), which focuses on jihadi use of emerging technologies such as encryption, artificial intelligence, drones, bots, and cryptocurrency. Since its inception 15 years ago, it has worked with legislatures and tech companies to develop strategies to counter terrorists' use of such technologies.
These groups have most recently been using cryptocurrencies in a range of ways: Pro-ISIS websites are raising funds using cryptocurrency and have published English-Arabic dictionaries of cryptocurrency terms; Pro-Al-Qaeda groups in Syria and jihadi groups in Gaza have raised cryptocurrency to fund military action; Russian-speaking pro-jihadi groups have called for donations using cryptocurrencies; Iran-backed militias in Iraq have promoted a website that purports to sell U.S. and NATO weapons using cryptocurrency.
On May 21, 2023, a user of the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat server published a post saying that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, the Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani neuroscientist incarcerated in the U.S. for attempting to kill a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, has been granted a visitation by her sister for the first time in 20 years.
An article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," an English-language monthly magazine published by Al-Azaim Media Foundation, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which defines itself as a supporting entity for ISIS, criticizes Western icons like Harry Styles, Jaden Smith, BTS, Elon Musk, and Brad Pitt, accusing the mainstream media of glorifying "unrighteous behavior" for men who are not, in the magazine's opinion, masculine.
On May 16, 2023, a new Telegram channel which supports Ashab Al-Kahf, an Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite group, began to post messages which threaten the American and British forces active in Iraq. The messages also warn the Iraqi people not to collaborate with these forces and echo previous threats against the U.S. Embassy in the country.
On May 17, 2023, following the 32nd Arab League Summit held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Shahada News Agency, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab, reported on the event and translated the Somali-language speech of the Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, into Arabic.
On May 24, 2023, Turkish media reported that the Intelligence and Counterterrorism Branches of the Istanbul Security Directorate had arrested 12 suspected members of the reportedly Islamic State (ISIS)-affiliated "Takva Group" in simultaneous raids in the Turkish provinces of Istanbul, Konya, and Antalya. ISIS supporters reacted online.
On May 18, 2023, ISIS released Issue 391 of its weekly Al-Naba' newsletter, which includes an editorial praising shari'a law as the best and easiest form of legislation for humankind, and criticizing manmade laws for spreading immorality and attempting to steer Muslims away from Islam.
ISIS Weekly Publishes Eulogy Of Afghan ISIS Commander Who Fought Soviets, Americans, Taliban
On May 18, 2023, ISIS released issue 391 of its weekly Al-Naba' newsletter, which included the eulogy of a "martyred" ISKP (Islamic State Khurasan Province) commander.
ISIS Releases Photo Set Documenting Takeover Of Village From Al-Qaeda's Affiliate In The Sahel GSIM
On May 17, ISIS published a photoset showing ISIS fighters taking strongholds belonging to an "apostate Al-Qaeda militia" (belonging to Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the Sahel, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims - GSIM), in north-eastern Mali.
On May 17, 2023, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed that a day earlier, its fighters conducted a suicide attack against Nigerian forces amid sustained fighting around Algarno forest in northern Borno state.
Between May 20 and 22, 2023, Islamic State Central African Province (ISCAP) claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against Christians carried out by its operatives over the preceding week in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, which are located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
On May 23, 2023, ta pro-ISIS outlet posted an article by a prominent female ISIS supporter, a writer and poet.
On ISIS-run Rocket.Chat server, members of an outlet dedicated to providing ISIS supporters with material about information, communication, and cyber security, announced a state of "general mobilization" among Arab and Muslim hackers to carry out cyber-attacks targeting Israeli basic infrastructure systems in response to Israel's continuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
On May 22, 2023, a pro-ISIS media outlet that shares information security tips and is on the pro-ISIS Rocket.Chat server, shared a link to an article discussing the security features of the Session messaging app, in which it warns ISIS supporters against using it, due to suspicion that the traffic on the app is monitored by intelligence and security elements.
On May 18, 2023, the moderator of a channel dedicated to cybersecurity on an ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat server published a post in Arabic and English calling on supporters to launch cyberattacks on Israeli targets.
A controversy has erupted among users of a Rocket.Chat server operated by ISIS supporters, after a pro-ISIS outlet released a series of posters, based on official ISIS media, encouraging Muslims to get an education even in "schools of tyranny" during the current period when ISIS lacks "empowerment." Several supporters were outraged by the group's implied advocation of attending schools run by non-Muslims, claiming that such institutions seek to indoctrinate Muslims to abandon their religion.
On May 3, 2023, an ISIS supporter on Telegram published a post calling on Muslims living in non-Muslim countries not to work for Christians or Jews, explaining that working for them is akin to empowering infidels against Islam. He further called on them to carry out lone wolf attacks.
Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Claims Drone Attack On UAE-Backed Forces
On May 18, 2023, the Al-Malahem Media Foundation, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a statement claiming responsibility for a drone attack against a military outpost belonging to the "mercenaries of the [United Arab] Emirates," – the Shabwah Defense force – in Shabwah Governorate, causing the forces to flee.
On May 24, 2023, the Al-Malahem Media Foundation, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a statement claiming responsibility for a drone attack targeting a staff army general in the Shabwah Defense force in Yemen's Shabwah Governorate.
On May 24, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab, released a report, in Arabic and English, summarizing Al-Shabab operations and their results during the past eight months, based on a statement delivered by the group's military spokesman.
On May 22, 2023, Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab's Shahada news agency claimed that a "security detachment" of Al-Shabab detonated an explosion in Mogadishu's Daynile district, targeting Somali forces who were recently trained in Uganda and in charge of security in the capital, Mogadishu.
On May 21, 2023, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab) published a video in Somali detailing the outcome of the second session of Al-Shabab's consultative meeting held over eight days to discuss jihadi issues related to east Africa.
The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the Sahel, released two statements claiming responsibility for five attacks targeting Burkinabe and Malian forces between May 16 and 19, 2023. The group also released photos documenting an assortment of equipment and weapons seized during the attacks.
On May 22, 2023, the official media arms of Firqat Al-Ghuraba (FG) released an eight-minute video trailer announcing the upcoming release of the second installment of the video series "Refutations" to highlight jihadis' rejection of HTS treatment and systemic targeting of foreign jihadi groups in HTS-controlled territory.
On May 17, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda outlet encouraged its supporters on the Chirpwire platform to watch and share a YouTube video recently released by a Jordanian Salafi influencer.
On May 16, 2023, Muhammad 'Ali Al-Houthi, a member of The Supreme Political Council of Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis), tweeted a post that had first been published May 15, 2021 on the Telegram channel of the Yemen Revolutionary Center in which he had proposed to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that they suspend their military campaign in Yemen and focus on liberating Jerusalem.
On May 18, 2023, an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, issued a claim of responsibility for a January 10, 2017 IED attack targeting a U.S. armored vehicle in Iraq's Salah Al-Din Governorate.
On May 23, 2023, a Syrian opposition-affiliated news website published an article about the arrival of 750 Hizbullah operatives to Lattakia, Syria, to participate in military exercises. Combat courses have been taking place in the mountains of Lattakia province, including the Turkmen Mountains, in the north of the province.
On May 22, 2023, the Telegram channel of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Al-Nujaba Movement published a video showing what appeared to be Lebanese Hizbullah military training in southern Lebanon.
On May 21, 2023, Lebanese Hizbullah held a military drill in southern Lebanon as part of its celebrations of the 23rd anniversary of Resistance and Liberation Day, which marks the Israeli army's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. Many Hizbullah fighters participated in the drill, which simulated an attack on Israeli military bases and vehicles and involved the use of infantry tactics, explosives, motorcycles, ATVs, and small drones.
On May 22, 2023 a Lebanese Hizbullah-linked outlet reported that a Saudi-born independent jihadi cleric has left Idlib, which is controlled by Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), and moved to Turkey.
On May 19, 2023, the official outlet of Jaish Al-Adl, a Salafi jihadi group based in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, published a poster calling for the killing of a former police commander of Chabahar city, offering a bounty of one billion Iranian toman (about $23,450) to whoever kills him.
In recent months, a new jihadi terror organization called Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP, the Jihadi Movement of Pakistan) has claimed several attacks in Pakistan's Baluchistan province.
The media arm of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has published a set of images showing the TTP fighters who underwent a special training course on the use of "laser guns" and heavy weapons at Al-Farooq Training Center, whose location is not known.
In two Urdu-language statements dated May 6 and May 15, 2023, the shadow governor of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for Zhob in Baluchistan province and a commander of TTP's Jamaatul Ahrar (Omar Khalid Group) – has sought to dismiss media reports of factional differences within TTP and slammed Pakistan's leading Islamic religious scholar and leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party Maulana Fazlur Rehman for not being loyal to Islam.
