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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EXCLUSIVE: In Audio Message, ISIS Spokesman Eulogizes Caliph 'Killed In Action', Announces Successor
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On November 30, 2022, Al-Furqan, the media arm of the ISIS Central Command released a nine-minute audio message by the group's spokesman, Abu 'Umar Al-Muhajir. The message eulogized Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi, saying he was killed in action. The slain leader was appointed as ISIS Caliph on March 10, 2022.
Following the November 30, 2022, announcement by the ISIS of the killing of its leader Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi and the appointment of a new leader, Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi, ISIS supporters online have proceeded to pledge their allegiance to the new Caliph and to share comments on the development.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On November 30, 2022, the ISIS Al-Furqan official media outlet released an audio message by the organization's spokesman, Abu 'Umar Al-Muhajir, announcing the killing in battle of ISIS leader Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi and the appointment of a new leader, Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi. The ISIS spokesman urged all Muslims to immediately swear fealty to Abu Al-Husayn, as it is forbidden for a Muslim "to spend two nights without pledging allegiance to an Imam."
On November 30, an unofficial media outlet of the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP), which operates in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, published a statement on its Element account pledging allegiance to ISIS's newly instated leader Abu Al-Husayn Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi.
On November 23, 2022, a new pro-ISIS Telegram channel was launched as part of a campaign for ISIS operatives and supporters to announce their renewed allegiance to the group's current leader, Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.
On November 27, 2022, a pro-ISIS outlet released a series of three posters featuring the text of a November 24 editorial from Issue 366 of ISIS weekly Al-Naba'. The editorial, titled "In Accordance with the Last Will and Testament of Your Prophet," was published against the backdrop of the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament – described by the magazine as "the filth, lust, and disgrace cup" – and declared Qatar an enemy of Islam worse than Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On November 24, 2022, ISIS released Issue 365 of its weekly Al-Naba' magazine, which includes an editorial about the 2022 FIFA World Cup games being held in Qatar. The editorial describes the tournament as, "The filth, lust, and disgrace cup," and attacks the host country, Qatar, claiming that the part it plays in the war against Islam is even more dangerous than that of Saudi Arabia and of the UAE.
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-ISIS Video Mocks FIFA World Cup: Real Men Act In The Arenas Of Jihad, Not Soccer
On November 29, 2022, a pro-Islamic State outlet released a two-minute and 50-second video arguing that life on the front lines of jihad is "full of happiness and optimism." The video mocked the FIFA World Cup in Qatar as a "distraction" from worship, saying the arenas of jihad, not soccer, are the true playing field.
On November 26, 2022, a pro-ISIS media foundation released a poster ridiculing the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, suggesting that the real test of a man's mettle, which shows his true colors, is in joining the ranks of jihad.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Twitter accounts affiliated with the Iranian regime posted extensively in anticipation of the U.S.-Iran World Cup match on November 29, sharing content that celebrated IRGC commander Qassim Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2021. Tweets portrayed Soleimani as a source of inspiration that will motivate the Iranian team to avenge his killing by defeating the U.S. in the match. The following is a sample of these tweets.
On November 23, 2022, a Telegram channel linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq published a post arguing that governments around the world should warn private companies against partnering with The Trump Organization.
In Weekly Magazine, ISIS Claims Attack On Cameroon Army In Country's North
On November 24, 2022, the ISIS released issue 366 of its weekly magazine "Al-Naba." In the issue, a "special source" claimed that on November 15, 2022, fighters from ISIS's West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked with machine guns a checkpoint of the "Cameroon army and its militias" in the north of Cameroon.
Pro-ISIS Group In Philippines Releases Videos Showing Combat Operations, Explosive-Making"
A channel on the ISIS-operated Rocket.Chat platform affiliated with an unofficial media outlet of the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP), which operates in the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia, shared new photo and video materials over the past week.
On November 22-28, 2022, pro-ISIS social media channels devoted to fundraising for women and children held in Al-Hol and Roj camps, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), requested donations and shared photos showing recipients of the funds raised, amid reports that funds are used to smuggle women and children out of the camps.
On November 21, 2022, a pro-ISIS Telegram channel published a post listing U.S. military bases in the Middle East, highlighting the number of U.S. forces in each and their combat capabilities. The channel further noted that attacks on "Muslims" are launched from these bases.
Anti-ISIS Channel: 'Inside Sources Report That ISIS Leader Was Killed'
On November 29, an anti-ISIS channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server, published a post claiming that according to ISIS inside sources, ISIS leader Abu Al-Hasan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi was killed some time ago.
On November 25, 2022, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda-affiliate in the Sahel, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), released an eight-minute video titled "Be Harsh Upon Them," apparently the first instalment of a video series.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate In African Sahel Claims Deaths Of 16 Togolese Soldiers In Second Attack In Week
On November 27, 2022, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel region, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), released a statement in Arabic and in French in which it claims responsibility for a November 24 attack on members of the Togolese Armed Forces at the meeting point between the borders of Togo, Benin, and Burkina Faso.
On the evening of November 27, 2022, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), launched an attack on the presidential palace compound in Mogadishu, which remains ongoing more than 15 hours later.
On November 28, 2022, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a statement describing details of the group's attack on the presidential palace compound in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.
Egyptian-Born Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Cleric: Better To Shoot Unbelievers Than Behead Them
On November 22, 2022, an Egyptian-born cleric in the Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), was asked on his Telegram channel: "What is the Islamic law ruling on the issue of beheading unbelievers?"
The following report is a complimentary offering from the MEMRI Iran Threat Monitor Project (ITMP). For more information, write to memri@memri.org with "ITMP Subscription" in the subject line.
On November 23, 2022, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) announced that on November 22, an IRGC Aerospace Colonel was killed by an explosion near Damascus, Syria, and accused Israel of being responsible.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On November 27, 2022, the website of Iraq's Iran-backed Al-Nujaba Movement published an article in Persian, Arabic, and English versions reporting on the recent visit of the group's secretary general, Akram Al-Kaabi, to Moscow.
On November 29, 2022, Iran-backed group Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq issued a statement urging the countries of the "Axis of Resistance" to unite against Saudi Arabia. The statement further threatened to transfer the conflict to the streets of Riyadh.
On November 29, 2022, a Syrian opposition website published an "exclusive" report about the renewal of smuggling activity in the Al-Bukamal area on the Syria-Iraq border, which is controlled by "the Iranian and Iraqi militias."
One day after carrying out the November 21, 2022 "warning" attack, apparently by means of drones, on the Pratika oil tanker which had entered Al-Dhabba Port in the Hadhramaut Governorate in south Yemen, senior officials of the Houthi Ansar Allah movement clarified their threats against tankers shipping oil and gas from the country.
On November 24, 2022, a Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq, shared a 30-second animated video clip which includes a veiled threat of an attack by the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen against Saudi Arabia.
Ahead of the anticipated November 29 soccer match between the U.S. and Iran in the FIFA World Cup tournament, several Telegram channels linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq, published posts extending support to the Iranian national team and depicting the match as a clash between "the axis of resistance" and the U.S.
Syria-Based Iranian Kurdish Faction Releases Photos Of 'Military Readiness' Drills
On November 27, 2022, the official media outlet of Harakat Muhajireen Ahl-e-Sunnat Iran, an Iranian-Kurdish Sunni jihadi group fighting under the Idlib-based group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), released a photoset documenting soldiers undergoing military readiness drills.
