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.
By: K. Choukry
The emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) as a separate entity in 2013 and the declaration of the self-proclaimed ISIS Caliphate in 2014 brought a direct challenge to Al-Qaeda, which until then had been positioning itself as the sole global jihadi conqueror.
By: N. Shulder
During the month of Ramadan, which was celebrated this year between March 23 and April 20, 2023, ISIS perpetrated dozens of attacks worldwide, in which hundreds of people were killed or wounded, and there was an increase in the number of operations carried out, as compared to previous months.
On May 3, 2023, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) financier Abu Ahmad Zakour – otherwise known as Omar Alsheak and Jihad 'Issa Al-Sheikh – released a statement dismissing recent sanctions placed on him by the U.S. and Turkey as "meaningless," denying charges that he is a financial facilitator for HTS, and affirming that he will remain committed to his activities despite his sanctions designation.
On May 9, 2023, Russia celebrated Victory Day, the country's annual holiday commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany. On May 8, "Sabereen News" – a social media news outlet affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq – released a video on Telegram marking the occasion.
On May 4, ISIS released issue 389 of its weekly newsletter Al-Naba'. The issue reported for the first time an April 29 attack on Mozambican forces in a village in the Muidumbe district of Cabo Delgado province, in northeastern Mozambique.
On May 10, 2023, ISIS Syria Province claimed responsibility for an attack in which a "security detachment" planted and detonated an IED on a vehicle inside a police station, in Barzeh municipality, in northern Damascus, destroying the vehicle, killing one police officer and injuring four others.
On May 4, 2023, ISIS released Issue 389 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue's feature article, titled "He Will Place Another People In Your Stead,"lauded the group's expansion into various parts of the African continent, arguing that such is the reward for the perseverance of ISIS leaders and soldiers during the last battle in Syria's Al-Baghouz, where the "unbelievers" gathered to down the banner of the Caliphate.
In a video, the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISKP) has threatened that its fighters will "very soon" reach Islamabad. It also urges the Pakistani people to rise up against Pakistani politicians and generals who are seen as de factor rulers.
On May 6, 2023, the owner of a channel on the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat server posted a brief essay titled "The Coming War and the Future of the World." On the following day, an English version of the essay was published on the same channel by one of its moderators.
Following a report by U.S. website "Al-Monitor" that the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) had the Q&A section on its website updated to state that LGBTQ visitors are welcome in Saudi Arabia, jihadis and opposition figures have taken the opportunity to condemn the rulers of Saudi Arabia for promoting immorality, while supporters of ISIS suggested that execution of homosexuals by throwing them off high buildings was the practice to follow.
On May 3, 2023, a pro-ISIS outlet released a poster aimed at inciting Saudi youth to wage jihad, titled "Young Men of [the Land of] the Two Holy Mosques: Follow your Example."
On April 28, 2023, a pro-ISIS Telegram channel shared an archival seven-page article titled "The Islamic State's Electronic Army: Lone Wolves."
On March 9, 2023, Al-Malahem Media Foundation, the official media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), published photos showing the aftermath of an attack against UAE-backed forces carried out the previous day in Yemen's southern Abyan governorate.
On May 8, 2023, the Al-Malahem Media Foundation, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a statement claiming responsibility for an attack against a military ambulance belonging to mercenaries of the [United Arab] Emirates, in the Mudiyah district of Yemen's Abyan Governorate.
On May 7, 2023, the Al-Malahem Media Foundation, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a video by another media group under the auspices of Al-Malahem. The five-minute 20-second video, titled "The Correspondents' Coverage of the Blessed Eid Al-Fitr," documents AQAP operatives in southern Yemen celebrating the holiday, which this year fell on April 22.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate GSIM Claims Attacks Against Armed Forces In Numerous Areas Of Burkina Faso
Between April 24 and May 1, 2023, Al-Zallaqa Foundation, 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 three statements claiming several attacks on Burkinabe security forces in different areas of Burkina Faso.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Claims Execution Of Five Spies For U.S. And Somali Intelligence
On May 4, 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 an Al-Shabab shari'a court executed five men in the town of Jilib, in southern Somalia's Middle Juba region. The men were charged with spying for U.S. and Somali intelligence agencies.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Video Showcases Dam Built In Southern Somalia
On May 4, 2023, Al-Kata'ib Media, an official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a 35-minute Somali-language video, as part of its video series "Fruits of Sharia."
On May 8, 2023, an anonymous pro-Al-Qaeda journalist published a long-form report on his website detailing alleged corruption within Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
On Rocket.Chat, Pro-Al-Qaeda Channel Criticizes ISIS For Destruction Of Fields In Iraq And Syria
On May 10, 2023, a channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server dedicated to spreading anti-ISIS information published a short post accusing ISIS of destroying agricultural production in Iraq and Syria.
On May 2, 2023, the Emir of Hizb ut-Tahrir published on Facebook a lengthy analysis of the Sudan Crisis, in which he accused the U.S. of engineering the country's conflict and urged the Sudanese people to overthrow their government – which he called the "agents of America" – in favor of an Islamic government run by Hizb ut-Tahrir.
On May 6-9, 2023, a Syrian opposition website reported that HTS arrested members of Hizb ut Tahrir in the countryside west of Aleppo, following the killing of security affiliate of HTS's General Security Service (GSS) in a firefight in northern Idlib. The incident generated a wave of accusations with HTS blaming "Iran-affiliated" "regime-aligned" Hizb ut Tahrir for betraying the Syrian revolution and inciting people to rise up against HTS.
On May 8, 2023, a website posted a 7-minute 36-second video showed the Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis) conducting large-scale military maneuvers that involved infantry and combat support forces including anti-armor, engineering, air defense, drone, and missile units.
On May 4, 2023, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Ashab Al-Kahf issued two claims of responsibility on its Telegram channel for operations it allegedly carried out in December 2021 against the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) in Iraq.
Over the past days, the Telegram channels of several Iran-backed groups in Iraq shared a post to bring former fighters back to the militia ranks. On May 9, an Iran-backed group published a recruitment message addressed to the "people of Allah who until recently helped their country and religion, and whose explosives, missiles and drones were a nightmare of the cursed occupier."
On May 9, 2023, Israel launched Operation Shield and Arrow against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement in the Gaza Strip, during which it killed four senior members of the movement from the air. Numerous elements in the Arab and Islamic world responded to the operation, including several Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
On May 7, 2023, the criminal court in Al-Rusafah district in Baghdad, Iraq, handed down a death sentence for Ahmad Hamdawi 'Uwayd Al-Kinani, a first lieutenant in the Iraqi police, who was on trial for the murder of prominent Iraqi security analyst Husham Al-Hashimi. Al-Hashimi was shot to death on July 6, 2022, near his home in the Zayyounah district in northeast Baghdad, which is an area that is tightly controlled by the Iran-backed Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades.
On May 7, 2023, the member countries of the Arab League readmitted Syria 12 years after it was ousted following the outbreak of civil war in the country. The move sparked conflicting reactions among jihadi elements that support Syria and those which oppose it. The Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Yemen viewed the decision as an indication of the strengthening of "the axis of resistance" and a waning of the power of the U.S. in the region.
On May 9, 2023, a Telegram channel linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq published a post suggesting that Pakistan establish an armed group to protect "the legitimate president [sic] of Pakistan," Imran Khan, who was arrested on the same day on corruption charges after being removed from office in April 2022.
On May 7, 2023, a Syrian opposition media outlet reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has provided weapons and fuel to ISIS in Syria's Deir Ez-Zour Governorate.
According to a Dari-language report published by Payam Aftab news agency, officials in the Afghan Taliban government, which has imposed a total ban on girls' education and banished women from universities and workplaces or public life, have submitted a draft plan for reopening schools for girls in Afghanistan.
In a statement, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) has announced that a new jihadi group in North Waziristan tribal district has joined the TTP.
