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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The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On October 13, 2023, Al-Sahab, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda General Command, released a three-page statement celebrating the Hamas October 7 attack as a "blessed battle" that has changed the course of jihad and the "rules of combat." Israel's "encroachment" on Al-Aqsa, it said, makes it certain that "the coming flood of Islamic heroes will make the Zionists and the Crusaders forget the horrors" of 9/11.
Between October 12-17, 2023, a prolific Al-Qaeda supporter shared a sequence of three posters on the Al-Qada-operated Rocket.Chat server calling for lone wolf attacks against Jews and Israeli interests, and uprisings against regimes of Islamic countries, in order to support jihad against Israel following Hamas' October 7 Al-Aqsa Flood attack.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On October 14, 2023, Hamas's military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, posted a one-minute 18-second clip showing what it said was a new anti-armor projectile called "Al-Yasin," and how it was used. It said that the high-destructive capacity projectile had entered service for the first time during the October 7 Hamas large-scale offensive.
On October 16, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda " channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server published a poster showing the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ), the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), backgrounded by a militant holding a gun. The poster's text features a quote by senior Al-Qaeda leader Sayf Al-'Adl.
On October 15, 2023, a Telegram channel affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, posted a video allegedly showing a commander in Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) on Lebanon's southern border with Israel.
On October 15, 2023, a Telegram channel associated with the Secretary-General of the Iraqi Iran-backed Sayyid Al-Shuhada Brigades posted photos of him standing on what the channel identified as a portion of the border with Israel.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On October 11, 2023, an Iran-backed Iraqi group calling itself "The Islamic Resistance - Uli Al-Ba's Al-Shadid" (based on Quran 17:5—"Those of Great Might"), published a statement on its Telegram channel claiming that its fighters are preparing, in keeping with the orders of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to attack the interests of the U.S., UK, and Israel if those countries intervene in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The Syrian opposition organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in the UK, reported on October 15, 2023 that an Iranian cargo plane linked to Mahan Air airlines which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has landed at Russia's Khmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast instead of at the Aleppo international airport where activity was stopped following the October 14 Israeli attack on it. This is the first time an Iranian plane has landed at the Russian base.
On October 14, 2023, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba of the Chicago suburb Plainfield stabbed his tenants, Palestinian-Americans Hanaan Shahin and her six-year-old son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, killing the boy and injuring the mother. The stabbing was reportedly related to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
On October 12, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda media outlet published a one-page "Statement of Praise for the Blessed Alexandria Operation" on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server, celebrating the October 8 shooting at an archeological site in Egypt, in which two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide were killed, and a third Israeli wounded, by an Egyptian policeman.
On October 16, 2023, a Syrian pro-rebel media outlet reported that the Assad regime recently issued orders banning its security and intelligence officers and military personnel from taking vacations for the time being.
Qais Al-Khaz'ali, secretary-general of Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haqq, a Shi'ite Iraqi militia backed by Iran, threatens the U.S. that, if it continues to support Israel in its war on Hamas in Gaza, his militia will target every U.S. interest in Iraq and the 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 October 6, 2023, an Iran-backed Iraqi group calling itself The Islamic Resistance - Uli Al-Ba's Al-Shadid ("Those of Great Might" based on the verse in Quran 17:5), announced that 11 local factions had joined its ranks with the aim of working together against "the occupiers (i.e. the U.S and Turkey)." The following day the group published another statement in which it praised "the Palestinian resistance" for its achievements in the fighting against Israel and vowed to perpetrate "a high-quality attack" to avenge the fighters who were killed defending Jerusalem.
On October 18, 2023, a Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq published two new posters from its "Exposing Collaborators" series, with the aim of exposing collaborators with Israel. The two posters include the personal details of a Belgian and a Bahraini citizen.
On October 11, 2023, a pro-Lebanese Hizbullah (LH) media outlet released a poster on X (formerly Twitter), threatening an attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group sailed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea after the attack on Israel by Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Gaza-based militant Palestinian factions launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (also called Al-Aqsa Storm), a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. As part of the attack, thousands of rockets were fired into Israel and mujahideen infiltrated Israeli towns and military bases near the Gaza strip, killing over a thousand civilians and soldiers and taking nearly 200 captives. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a mass mobilization. The Israeli government officially declared war on October 8.
On October 17, 2023, the media office of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas published an Arabic-language statement listing six officials who are authorized to speak on the group's behalf in English. Since its release, at least one of the "spokesmen" has conducted an English-language interview with American broadcaster NPR. Another, Osama Hamdan, is a U.S.-Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
On October 14, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel published a post calling on supporters with expertise in military sciences to "educate their brothers" in the use of chemical weapons and poisons. The post also urged supporters to incite attacks and otherwise rouse believers, rather than be sorrowful.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On October 14, 2023, Hamas's Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades military wing shared on its Telegram channel a video featuring a mock scenario of what it says will be its armed response to and tactics countering the likely impending Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
On October 17, 2023, a group calling itself the Al-Quds Revolutionary Youth Movement released a two-minute video announcing the launching of armed resistance to foil Israel's "aspirations" in Jerusalem, and to counter the West and Israel's war "imposed" on the Palestinian people.
On October 16, 2023, a gunman armed with an automatic rifle shot three Swedes in Brussels, killing two and seriously injuring another, as the Swedish national soccer team was scheduled to play a match against Belgium at a nearby stadium. Videos of the perpetrator, Abdesalem Jilani Meftah Lassoued, a 45-year-old Tunisian who was in Belgium illegally, circulated showing him swearing allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi and declaring that the attack was perpetrated to avenge Muslims.
In Video: Brussels Lone Wolf Shooter Claims To Be ISIS Soldier Who Killed Swedes To Avenge Muslims
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In the evening of October 16, 2023, a gunman armed with an automatic rifle shot and killed two Swedish nationals in Brussels. The Swedish national football team was scheduled to play a match against Belgium at the Heysel stadium, only five kilometers from the area of the attack. As of this writing, the perpetrator is reportedly still at large.
Issue 412 of Islamic State (ISIS) weekly magazine Al-Naba', which was published on October 12, 2023, contains an editorial titled "Defending Muslims." Stressing the importance of Muslim solidarity and mutual defense, particularly by waging jihad against aggression by unbelievers, the editorial calls for jihad against "all the taghouts [literally "false deities," a reference to rulers who govern by manmade law rather than shari'a] of the world."
On October 13, 2023, the Islamic State's (ISIS) official media outlet, A'maq News Agency, released a statement on Telegram reporting that according to "security sources," 50 people were killed and dozens injured in an ISIS suicide operation against a gathering of Shi'ites in the Baghlan region in northern Afghanistan.
On October 18, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) Central Africa Province (ISCAP) claimed that on the previous day, its fighters killed "three Christians," including a British citizen, in western Uganda.
On October 18, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) East Asia Province (ISEAP) claimed that its fighters, armed with machine guns, had clashed with a military foot patrol in the Maguindanao region in the Philippines the day before, killing and wounding seven soldiers.
A lead 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 the Islamic State (ISIS), criticizes democracy, saying that it transfers the power of legislation from Allah to people, promotes obscenity and social evils, and promises free speech while denying the same to Muslims.
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On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Gaza-based militant Palestinian factions launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (also called Al-Aqsa Storm), a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. As part of the attack, thousands of rockets were fired into Israel and mujahideen infiltrated Israeli towns and military bases near the Gaza strip, killing over a thousand civilians and soldiers and taking nearly 200 captives. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a mass mobilization. The Israeli government officially declared war on October 8.
On October 14, 2023, Al-Malahem, the media arm of the Yemen-based jihadi group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), shared a nine-minute video titled, "Al-Aqsa Flood – Words of Support to Our Heroic Brothers in Palestine." A second part followed two days later.
In the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, amid a surge of violence in the region following Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, Salafi jihadi clerics and ideologues continued to denounce Arab governments' stance on the conflict and U.S. support for Israel. ISIS supporters, on the other hand, continued to threaten Jews, "Crusaders," and others in the West.
On October 7, 2023, Afghanistan was rocked by several strong earthquakes in which more than 2,000 people were killed and many others were injured. On October 13, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) issued a two-page statement in Arabic in which it expressed its condolences to the "Islamic Emirate" and the Afghani people for the disaster that they experienced, and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
On September 8, 2023, a powerful earthquake struck central Morocco near Marrakesh. A second disaster struck North Africa on September 11, when flash floods caused the collapse of two dams near Derna, Libya. The two disasters killed thousands and left thousands more injured and homeless.
On October 12, 2023, Al-Zallaqa, 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), released a statement announcing that a Malian government employee "arrested" by GSIM fighters in 2020, had died in captivity.
On October 14, 2023, Al-Malahem, the media arm of the Yemen-based jihadi group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), shared a nine-minute video titled, "Al-Aqsa Flood – Words of Support to Our Heroic Brothers in Palestine."
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Gaza-based militant Palestinian factions launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (also called Al-Aqsa Storm), a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Gaza-based militant Palestinian factions launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (also called Al-Aqsa Storm), a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. As part of the attack, thousands of rockets were fired into Israel and mujahideen infiltrated Israeli towns and military bases near the Gaza strip, killing over a thousand civilians and soldiers and taking nearly 200 captives. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a mass mobilization. The Israeli government officially declared war on October 8.
On October 14, 2023, a Syrian opposition-affiliated website published an "exclusive" report about unusual activity of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces in Al-Bukamal, east of Deir Al-Zour.
Syrian Opposition Website: Iran Is Developing And Producing Drones At The T-4 Airbase In Syria
On October 15, 2023, a Syrian opposition website reported that Iran has recently begun to stockpile, develop and produce drones at the Syrian Air Force Tiyas Military Airbase, also known as the T-4 Air base located in the Homs Governorate, north of the town of Tiyas, about 60 kilometers west of the city of Palmyra in Eastern Syria.
On October 17, 2023, a Telegram channel which supports the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq reported that hackers had managed to penetrate several U.K. and U.S. websites, as part of a cyber campaign to target websites of countries supportive of Israel in its war against Hamas.
On October 11, 2023, a Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq shared a poster depicting an armed fighter and drone outside a window to a room with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside it.
On October 17, 2023, an explosive projectile struck the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza's Zeitoun neighborhood, killing hundreds. While Palestinian groups were quick to point the finger at Israel, Israeli officials asserted that the blast was the result of a malfunctioning rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) which caught fire after it fell to the ground. These claims were bolstered by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said during a visit to Tel Aviv on October 18 that U.S. intelligence analysis supported the Israeli position.
On October 13, 2023, prominent Iraqi Islamic scholar Abdulrazzaq Al-Sa'di published a religious edict (fatwa), titled: "Supporting the Mujahideen in Palestine Is Obligatory Upon All Muslims." The fatwa calls on Muslims globally to join the battlefield and make donations to aid Palestinians in the war effort.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Leading Islamic religious scholars in Pakistan have called upon the Islamic countries to declare jihad against the state of Israel, according to a report in the leading Islamist daily Roznama Ummat, which stated: "By attacking Israel, Palestinians have responded to the atrocities and subjugation of theirs. It is the responsibility of the Muslim governments to declare jihad now."
