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.
EXCLUSIVE: A Look Into The Evolution Of Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Newsletter Al-Naba'
By: Z. Emile*
The weekly newsletter of the Islamic State (ISIS), Al-Naba', is the most significant publication released by a jihadi organization on a regular basis since 2015.The name, which means "The News," is the title of the 78th chapter of the Qur'an whose main theme is about the day of "great tidings." This refers to the day of Resurrection and the Hereafter. The weekly release features an editorial reflecting the leadership's view on specific aspects of jihad or events, articles on operational activities, religious guidelines, and mentions of upcoming media productions, among other subjects.
On September 10, 2023, the Al-Sahab Media Foundation, the official outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released issue 11 of its Arabic-language Ummah Wahidah (One Ummah) magazine. The issue, which is dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks perpetrated against the U.S. by Al-Qaeda, includes a wide-ranging, analytical article by 'Issam Al-Maghribi titled, "Future of the New World Order after 9/11."
On September 11, 2023, Al-Sahab Media Foundation, the official outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released a book authored by Al-Qaeda Military Chief Sayf Al-'Adl, who is a potential successor to the group's slain leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who was killed on July 31, 2022.
On September 15, 2023, Al-Kataib Media Productions, the media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a video message titled "And Surely Allah Weakens The Deceitful Plots Of The Disbeliever," delivered by the group's Spokesman, Mahad Karate, a.k.a. Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame.
On September 15, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released its weekly newsletter, issue 408, featuring an editorial titled "Escape To Allah." The editorial argues that natural disasters are a divine warning meant to remind people to fully commit to worshiping Allah above everything else. The piece was published a few days after an earthquake hit parts of Morocco and two dams burst in Libya, flooding much of the country's northeast and drowning thousands.
On September 14, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 408 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba. The issue includes claims of recent attacks in Nigeria, Mozambique, Iraq, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and provides new details of previously claimed attacks. It also displays an infographic summarizing recent attacks in the Philippines, which appears to accept responsibility for a deadly, unclaimed attack by the ISIS affiliate.
Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Attacking Governmental Mining Company In Iraq's Al-Anbar Governorate
On September 12, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement on Telegram claiming responsibility for an attack on a governmental Iraqi mining company in Iraq's Al-Anbar governorate.
On September 15, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) Mozambique Province released a statement on Telegram claiming responsibility for a September 14 attack in the Mocimboa da Praia region in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province.
On September 19, 2023, the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) claimed that its fighters attacked four "apostate Christians" with machine guns, in the Kauswagan region of Philippines' Lanao del Norte province, killing them all.
In the latest issue of Islamic State Khurasan Province's (ISKP) Pashtu-language magazine "Khurasan Ghag [Voice of Khurasan]," published by Al-Azaim Foundation, which is the media arm of ISKP, the group accuses Afghan Taliban leaders of using Islam to tell Afghans that they had gained their freedom from the unbelievers and from America while in practice working as America's slaves. Several articles in the magazine urge Afghans to join the jihad while arguing that the Taliban have strayed from shari'a.
On September 14, 2023, an anti-Islamic State (ISIS) channel on an Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server shared what it said was an internal circular sent by an ISIS operative who oversaw an ISIS "educational program" in Al-Hol camp.
On September 18, 2023, an anti-Islamic State (ISIS) channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server published what it claimed to be an internal memo issued by the Caliph's Office in the aftermath of ISIS's defeat in Al-Baghouz, Syria in 2019, which claimed that recent setbacks suffered by the group are the price paid for the organization's "stage of attrition" campaign.
On September 19, 2023, a prominent pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel shared a post claiming that most phones belonging to the women in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-run Al-Hol detention camp have been hacked.
Users of the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated Rocket.Chat server often discuss hijrah [travel to ISIS territory for jihad], encouraging others to make hijrah, seeking guidance in doing so, or discussing the best destinations. In recent days, there have been several exchanges about the topic held on the platform, in which supporters discuss the feasibility of traveling to join ISIS, whether ISIS accepts women, and whether it is preferable to make hijrah or carry out an attack in one's home country.
On September 17, 2023, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a series of reports about a "crushing attack" perpetrated by the organization on the same day, against a convoy of Ethiopian African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) forces in the suburbs of the city of Rabdhure in Somalia's southwestern Bakool Region.
On September 13, 2023, the Al-Kataib Media Productions, the multimedia production arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a three-minute video in Somali, documenting an attack on the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor infrastructure project in Kenya's Lamu county.
On September 15, 2023, Al-Kataib Media Productions, the media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a video message titled "And Surely Allah Weakens The Deceitful Plots Of The Disbeliever," delivered by the group's Spokesman, Mahad Karate, a.k.a. Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame.
Al-Zallaqa, the official media outlet 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 series of statements and photos documenting GSIM attacks against Burkinabe forces, as well as Malian troops and allied Russian Wagner Group operatives in Mali's Timbuktu region.
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.
In the February-March 2023 issue of its Urdu-language journal, "Nawa-i-Ghazwa-e-Hind" ("The Voice of the Battle of India"), Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has several articles urging Muslims to support Palestinians and fight against the desecration of Quran in European countries. Several articles also discuss the importance of the fasting month of Ramadan.
In the August 2023 issue of its Urdu-language journal, Nawa-i-Ghazwa-e-Hind ("The Voice of the Battle of India"), Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) attacks Saudi Arabia for organizing musical concerts in the land of the Prophet Muhammad, and urges Muslims to counter such movements of polytheism and unbelief by any means.
On September 19, 2023, the Al-Andalus Foundation, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), published a 12-minute video, the sixth installment in a series titled "Enlightening the Minds about the Apostasy of Algeria's Rulers," which features an audio message from a senior AQIM operative.
On September 16, 2023, the Al-Andalus Foundation, the official media outlet of the Algeria-based Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and 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 joint statement of "condolences to our afflicted people in Morocco and Libya."
On September 18, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda and anti-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet released a statement on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server, in which it denied media reports about a truce between Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the Sahel, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), and Islamic State Sahel Province.
On September 14, 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 two minute, 14 second-long video showing what it claimed were GSIM fighters downing a helicopter operated by members of the Russian military contractor Wagner Group in southwestern Mali.
On September 14, 2023, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released issue 17 of its periodical magazine "Sada Al-Malahem" (the Echo of Epics). Among the articles featured in the issue are an editorial by AQAP leader Khalid Batarfi, celebrating the return of the magazine after a 15-year absence, as well as articles celebrating AQAP attacks on UAE-backed forces in Yemen.
Pro-Al-Qaeda 'Bank Of Phone Numbers' Uses Dark Web To Facilitate Jihadi Media, Communication
On September 18, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel, shared an article authored by a website that offers fake phone numbers for supporters and members of the jihadi organization to facilitate internal communication and the use social media accounts to disseminate jihadi content. The lengthy article, which did not provide an address for the website, claimed that the website obtains the phone numbers from the dark web.
New Telegram Channel Devoted To Jihadi News Reports Attacks By Al-Qaeda-Linked Groups Worldwide
On September 15, 2023, a new Telegram channel announced the launch of "a news agency concerned with the affairs and news of Muslims in general and the mujahideen in particular, in all places and times." Noting that it will publish news in poster form only, the channel affirmed: "We do not belong to any body, we are common Muslims."
On September 14, 2023, Syrian opposition website Eye of Euphrates posted an "exclusive" report discussing "an unprecedented deal" between Iran's IRGC and Syria's security apparatuses in the Deir Al-Zour governorate in northeast Syria. According to the report, the plan aims to bring advanced weapons into Syria from Iraq by disguising the shipments as "religious tourism."
In recent days, opponents of Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) have spread rumors that the group arrested the spokesman of the HTS-linked General Security Service (GSS), Diya' Al-'Umar, on charges of collaboration with the U.S.-led coalition. Following these rumors, Al-'Umar made several media appearances, in an apparent refutation of the claims, while HTS supporters rallied behind Al-'Umar and the GSS, denouncing those who disseminated the allegations as liars and enemies of the revolution.
Iran-Backed Al-Nujaba Movement Accuses U.S. Of Controlling Iraq's Territory, Economy
On September 16, 2023, a Telegram channel that supports Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq published a statement promising to take steps to reduce the U.S. presence in Iraq and to "respond harshly" to those who oppose them. A day later, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Al-Nujaba Movement published a poster on its Telegram channel claiming that the U.S. controls the wealth of Iraq.
On September 19, 2023, a Telegram channel " which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq, released a 26-second animated video depicting American soldiers trying to evacuate from Iraq.
On September 19, 2023, a Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq published a post criticizing a recent statement by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan regarding the arrival of a delegation of Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement, i.e., the Houthis, in Saudi Arabia to hold talks about ending the war in Yemen.
