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July 24, 2015 JTTM Weekly No. 170

Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary

July 24, 2015
JTTM Weekly No. 170

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: Report: Significant Changes In Islamic State (ISIS) Leadership In Syria

According to a report posted July 19, 2015 on the Lebanese website Alhadath News, there have been significant changes in the leadership of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.


ISIS spokesman and purported new governor of Syria Muhammad Al-'Adnani

The report, which has not yet been verified by other sources, states that the changes in the ISIS leadership in Syria came against the backdrop of ISIS's failures in the recent battles in the east of the country, and also as part of a trend towards integrating local Syrian commanders at the expense of foreign commanders.

 

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Members, Supporters Use Trending Twitter Hashtag To Explain Path To Radicalization

On July 14, 2015, the hashtag #radicalised" was launched on Twitter by radical British preacher Abu Baraa. Some of his Twitter followers, many of them Islamic State (ISIS) activists or supporters from English-speaking Western countries, used the hashtag to recount their own stories about what led them to their extremist views.

A sampling of the tweets shows that these ISIS supporters decided to embrace ISIS's worldview from a variety of motivations. They list political grievances, ideological persuasion, being motivated by studying Islamic scripture, exposure to ISIS propaganda, and more. Some mentioned their sense of estrangement due to discrimination against Muslims in their societies. A number of users also mentioned being influenced by radical American-Yemeni sheikh Anwar Al-Awlaki.

ISIS Propaganda & Social Media

An Australian ISIS member residing in Syria, Umm Ibrahim, tweeted: "I became #radicalised after being able to watch a beheading without turning my eyes away achievement for a woman Jihad next inshaa Allah."

 

EXCLUSIVE: New ISIS Execution Video: Repent Or The Streets Of Paris Will Be Covered In Corpses

On July 22, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) media office of the Hama district distributed a two-minute video showing the summary execution of a Sunni member of the Syrian regime forces. The video, titled "We Did Not Wrong Them - They Wronged Themselves," is in French with Arabic graphics and subtitles. An French-speaking ISIS operative issues threats and warnings to France and the anti-ISIS coalition. The video was distributed via a Twitter account.

 

EXCLUSIVE: British Foreign Fighter Participates In A New Anti-ISIS Jabhat Al-Nusra Video

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV 

 

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Holiday Sermon From Fallujah, Iraq: We Shall Slaughter Shi'ites Like Sheep

In a sermon delivered in a Fallujah mosque on July 18, 2015, the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, an unnamed ISIS-affiliated cleric stated that the enmity between Sunnis and Shi'ites is of an ideological nature, and vowed to slaughter Shi'ites "like sheep" in Baghdad and in the holy Shi'ite cities of Karbala and Najaf.



ISIS Cleric: "You should know, oh servants of Allah, that our enmity with the Rafidites and the Zoroastrian Persians is not of a material or a political nature. It is an ideological enmity that goes back a long time." 

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV 

 

ISIS Children Perform Military Training, Vow To Conquer Rome, Destroy Crosses, Enslave Women

On July 23, 2015, the media office of the Islamic State's (ISIS) Dijlah province released a video titled "Cubs of the Caliphate" featuring children attending classes, performing intense military exercise and presenting speeches in which they called on Muslims to join the ranks, and vowed to conquer Rome, destroy its crosses and enslave its women.

 

Warning: Graphic Images - ISIS Executes Two Homosexuals In Palmyra

The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

On July 23, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) media office of Homs province in Syria released several images showing the execution of two men convicted of engaging in homosexual acts. As in its numerous previous executions of homosexuals, ISIS members threw the two men head first off a rooftop, and then stoned them.

 

ISIS Captures Three Foreign Christians In Libya

The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

On July 17, 2015, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) twitter account published pictures of three men whom, it said, were captured by ISIS in eastern Libya.

The three "Crusaders," the account noted, were captured in a "security operation" of ISIS.

Pictures of the three hostages, along with each of their government issued ID's, accompanied the announcement. The men were identified as Bekhit Nageh Ebeid from Egypt, Adeola Ibrahim from Nigeria, and Sekyere Kofi Frimpong from Ghana.

 

ISIS Claims Responsibility For Killing Saudi Officer And Suicide Attack In Riyadh, Vows To Liberate All Muslim Prisoners

On July 16, 2015, the media office of the Islamic State's (ISIS) Najd province released a statement in which the group takes responsibility for a suicide attack targeted at a checkpoint outside Al-Hayer prison in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the killing of a Saudi colonel, and vowing to liberate all Muslim prisoners everywhere.

The statement, which was posted on ISIS affiliate jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, noted that "a solider of the Caliphate and an ardent knight of monotheism" named Abu Omar Al-Najdi killed his uncle, Colonel Rashid Ibrahim Al-Safyyan, with a machine gun and then detonated his suicide vest at a checkpoint in one of Al-Hayer's entrances.

 

Pro-ISIS Hackers Document Attacks On Egyptian Targets, Urge Muslims To Join 'Electronic Jihad'

Sinai-based pro-Islamic State (ISIS) hackers have released their second tally of cyber operations against Egyptian targets, including military personnel and government webpages. The tally, which comes in the form of a 21-minute video, Part II in a series on the topic, documents some of those attacks while calling upon Muslims to participate in "electronic jihad" against ISIS enemies.     

The hackers operate under the umbrella name of Al-Mukhabarat Al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Intelligence Services). In Part I of their video series, released online in January, they mostly showed how compromised Facebook pages allegedly belonging to various Egyptian military personnel were jam-packed with ISIS content. The attacks, said the video, were in response to the Egyptian military campaign against jihadis in Sinai. The video also claimed that various sensitive information was obtained by accessing military personnel mobile phones and computers. This latest video reveals phone conversations allegedly among Egyptian soldiers intercepted by the hackers.

 

In Issue V Of French-Language ISIS Magazine: Religious Justification For Slavery, Rape, Oppression Of Christians; Practical Advice For ISIS Operatives In The West

On July 20, 2015, the official Islamic State (ISIS) media group Al-Hayat published the fifth issue of its French-language magazine Dar Al-Islam ("Land of Islam"). The 49-page issue, which features eight articles, was distributed via Twitter and hosted on Archive.org. The magazine primarily aims to show that ISIS is the only legitimate Muslim state through its strict enforcement of shari'a law in the territories it controls. Thus, the magazine features articles justifying the enslavement of disbelievers and the oppression of Christians. The magazine also features an article with operational instructions for ISIS activists in the West to remain clandestine while preparing an operation on Western soil.

 

In Audio Recording, Commander Of Unknown Group, Jama'at Al-Murabitoon, Calls On Egyptians To Rebel Against Al-Sisi And His Soldiers

On July 22, 2015, the jihadi forum Al-Fida' posted a 6:30-minute YouTube video titled "And On That Day The Believers Will Rejoice," which includes an audio recording by Hisham 'Ali 'Ashrawi, aka Abu Omar Al-Muhajir Al-Masri, commander of the Egyptian group Jama'at Al-Murabitoon.

 

In Eid Al-Fitr Message, Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Urges Muslims To Donate For Jihad, Quotes Prophet Muhammad: 'Whosoever Has Equipped A Fighter In The Path Of Allah... Verily He Has Participated In Jihad'

Following is the text of the annual statement issued by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban umbrella organization), on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr, which this year fell on July 17.

Mullah Omar has not been seen since the fall of his government in Kabul in 2001, and no video or audio recordings of him are available since that time. However, every year, he issues two statements, one for Eid Al-Fitr and one for Eid Al-Adha. Most analysts think that his statements are written by someone in the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

 

Hizbut Tahrir Letter To Pakistani Security Forces, Judiciary: Pakistan's 'Current Political And Military Leadership... Has Openly Declared Hostility To Islam And The Muslim Ummah'

Following are excerpts from an open letter by Hizbut Tahrir Pakistan, a terror organization outlawed by Pakistan, addressed to the Pakistani security forces and judiciary. The excerpts are from the English-language version; the letter was also published in Urdu.

Pakistan's Military And Political Leadership "Has Sold The Country And Its People To The Kuffar [Infidel] Colonialists"

"It has been our practice, when sending open letters, that they be directed to the regime and its head, in accordance to what was mentioned in the Book of Allah, the Almighty: '...When a group of them said, "Why do you exhort a people whom Allah is going to destroy or chastise with a severe punishment? They said, To absolve ourselves before your Lord (by fulfilling our duty of forbidding evil), and perhaps they may fear Allah."' (Koran 7:164)

 

Text Of Controversial Intelligence-Sharing Pact Between Pakistani And Afghani Spy Agencies

On May 19, 2015, reports emerged that indicated that the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), had recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding intelligence sharing. The ISI-NDS pact was widely criticized by independent journalists, officials, and parliamentarians in Afghanistan, as well as by Indian analysts.

The outrage against the ISI-NDS pact stems from the fact that for more three decades, the ISI is known to have created and nurtured jihadi organizations. It is known that the ISI fought the Afghan jihad of the 1980s with financial assistance from the CIA, supported the Taliban government in Kabul in the 1990s, and has continued to support the Afghan jihadis during the 2000s and beyond. Even former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has criticized the ISI-NDS pact.

 

Urdu-Language Translation Brings Broadcasts By ISIS's Al-Bayan Radio To Pakistani Audiences; Website Provides Tutorial On Using TOR Software To Hide IP Addresses

Broadcasts by the Islamic State's Al-Bayan Radio are being translated into Urdu and published for audiences in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Over the past few months, the ISIS-affiliated Urdu website Dawatehaq.net has been publishing jihad-related news stories from different parts of the world in Urdu. Most of the stories concern developments associated with the Islamic State.

 

Kashmiri Jihadi Commander To Conference In Pakistan: 'America, Israel, And India Are Strategic Partners'; 'Curing [Global Imperialism] Is Impossible Without Jihad'

Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the Pakistan-based jihadist network Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), recently addressed a conference organized by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan in the Pakistani town of Bahawalpur. Salahuddin is also Supreme Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the terror groups within the MJC network.

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