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: Alarabiya Website: ISIS Is Developing Chemical Weapons, Testing Them On Prisoners
According to a report on Al-Arabiya's Arabic website, ISIS is developing chemical weapons and testing them on prisoners. Citing "security elements associated with Syrian opposition groups," the report states that the experiments are conducted by a unit comprising mainly of French, Tunisian and Libyan ISIS fighters, and mainly on prisoners condemned to death. Most of the experiments were carried out in the town of Al-Shadadi in Syria's Al-Hasakah district before it was captured by Kurdish and SDF forces. The report claims further that ISIS still maintains stores of chemicals in the town of Markadah and in Deir Al-Zor.
On May 31, 2016, a Western ISIS fighter in Libya posted, on his Facebook page, a video of himself with his recently fallen friend. He had first posted the news of his friend's death three days previously, on May 28; in that post, he included a screenshot of the last text he had sent his friend, possibly revealing the American fighter's actual identity. The video, posted on May 31, shows the two fighters side-by-side; also in the video, Al Amriki threatens President Obama.
On June 2, 2016, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Al-Khayr province in Syria released a video focusing on Germany and on the wave of Muslim refugees and immigrants who have flocked to it in the past year. The video features the story of a young Syrian Muslim who traveled to Germany in search of a better life, only to return later to ISIS-controlled territory after being faced with what the video describes as Germany's "bitter reality." It also features a German ISIS fighter who carried out a suicide attack against Kurdish forces in Syria.
On May 31, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) published an article in its weekly newspaper Al-Naba' mourning the death of Mohammad Makkawi, a Sudanese jihadi who is wanted by the U.S. for his involvement in the 2008 assassination of John Granville, a U.S diplomat in Khartoum, Sudan.
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On May 29, 2016, ISIS's Tripoli province in Libya published a 15-minute video titled "From Humiliation to Glory," which features five West African ISIS fighters calling on their countrymen to carry out the duty of hijra and join the ranks of the Islamic State. The fighters speak in their native tongues and cite Koranic verses justifying the act of hijra (immigration to ISIS territory). Some of the fighters are also fluent in English, which they speak with an African accent. The final part of the video documents ISIS's intense combat against the Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) militias in the area of Sirt, including the use of car bombs driven by suicide attackers.
EXCLUSIVE: German ISIS Fighter Claims To Sell Alleged Yazidi Slaves On Facebook
On May 20, 2016, a German ISIS fighter advertised two alleged Yazidi slaves for sale on his Facebook page. Users commented on the photos, asked questions, or made derogatory remarks about the women, but the posts were quickly taken down
On May 31, 2016, an American who claims to be an ISIS fighter posted, on his Telegram account, a message encouraging his followers to carry out lone-wolf attacks, as opposed to immigrating to the Islamic State, which fighters have frequently called for doing in the past.
On May 30, 2016 the "Al-Wafa Foundation," a pro-ISIS activist group, posted "A Message to the People of Spain and to the Spanish-Speaking Countries," which threatens these countries and their citizens with terror attacks unless they stop fighting the Muslims and occupying Muslim land.
ISIS Threatens To Behead 'Cross Worshippers,' Vows To Destroy U.S, Russia And Their Allies
On May 28, 2016, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Raqqah, Syria, released a video threatening to behead "worshippers of the cross" and vowing to destroy the U.S, Russia and their allies. The video, titled "Die in Your Rage," was posted on the leading ISIS-affiliated online jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, and also showed beheading of three men accused of spying for the "alliance of the crusaders."
On May 30, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Hayat Media Center released a three-minute video titled "The Religion of Kufr [unbelief] Is One." The video aims to show that ISIS is the victim of a united global alliance aiming to destroy Islam, of which ISIS is the true leader. The video was distributed in English and Arabic, via official ISIS Twitter and Telegram channels, and hosted on several webhosting platforms such as Archive.org, YouTube, and Sendvid.com.
Malaysian ISIS Fighter Shares Intimate Photos, Propaganda On Facebook
Malaysian ISIS fighter is active on Facebook, and shares intimate snapshots of life in the Islamic State on his page. He also circulates various ISIS and jihadi propaganda pieces. It appears that he is in Syria with his wife and children. His photos suggests that he is the city of Al-Tabaqa, west of Al-Raqqa, and that he fights alongside other Malaysian fighters.
ISIS Releases Desktop Version Of Its App For Teaching Children Arabic Alphabet
The Islamic State (ISIS) has released a desktop version of the app it recently released for teaching children the Arabic alphabet.
The desktop program appears to operate just like as its Android counterpart, allowing children to learn the Arabic alphabet, trace letters on the screen, and identify letters, among other things.
Al-Qaeda Branches Publish Joint Eulogy For Taliban Leader Mansour
On May 29, 2016, three Al-Qaeda branches - Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) - published a joint statement on their Twitter accounts and Telegram channels eulogizing Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed recently in a U.S. airstrike. The statement lauds Mansour for his role in fighting jihad and continuing the heritage of his predecessor, Mullah Omar. It gives no indication as to the future of the relationship between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and to the question of whether the groups aligned with the former will pledge allegiance to the new Taliban leader.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is believed to be operating from a hideout somewhere in Afghanistan, has issued a statement in Urdu on Wordpress.com offering condolences over the death of Afghan Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was recently killed in a U.S. drone strike in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan.
