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.
In a new Taliban video, Ustad Khwaja Maqsood Mukhlis, a fiery speaker and jihadi veteran of the Soviet era, urges Muslims to buy arms and take part in the "jihad against Jews and Christians." The Taliban video was released in the first week of April.
The video, released by Al-Saadiqeen Production Centre, starts with a Koranic verse: "Those who believe in Allah, be afraid of Him and stand with the true faithful." Khwaja Mukhlis talks about militants who are setting aside arms and joining the peace process in Afghanistan.
Al-Saadiqeen Production Centre belongs to Toora Bora front, one of the militant groups fighting as part of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
"My Message Is Particularly For Those Clerics Who Read Friday Sermons And Prayers At Funerals And Recite These Verses Of The Koran, But Are Afraid To Take Up Arms"
On the video, Khwaja Mukhlis says: "Allah Almighty has ordered us, as for prayers, fasting and hajj, to be ready to fight against enemies of Islam, and get knowledge of every technique [in fighting] more than the infidels, because the war between Islam and kufr [unbelief] will continue until doomsday.
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'Jordanian Intelligence Officer' Defects And Joins Jabhat Al-Nusra
On April 16, 2013, online supporters of Jabhat Al-Nusra posted a video on YouTube featuring what they said was a Jordanian intelligence officer announcing his defection. The man speaking in the video appears wearing a mask and holding a Koran. After reciting several verses, he introduces himself as an officer in the Jordanian intelligence, and announces his defection.
Jihadis Commemorate French Islamist Killed In Syria
Facebook post commemorating Gendron
A Facebook page devoted to foreigners fighting in Syria announced the death of a French man named Raphaël Gendron. The Facebook page mentioned that Gendron, nicknamed 'Abd Al-Raouf and Abu Marwa, was killed in northern Syria while fighting in the ranks of the Suqur Al-Sham brigade.
In a new video posted on the leading jihadi forums Shumoukh Al-Islam and Al-Fida, the Mufti of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Ibrahim Al-Rubaish, blames the Yemeni government for the failure of the talks last year between AQAP and the government regarding a temporary ceasefire. He notes that AQAP offered to stop fighting in return for the implementation of the shari'a, and claims that the talks failed because the Yemeni government promotes the interests of the U.S. rather than the Muslim nation, and because Yemen is effectively ruled today by the U.S. ambassador in San'a. He therefore concluded that, since the goal of implementing the shari'a cannot be achieved by peaceful means, the mujahideen have no choice but to declare jihad against the Yemeni government, and urged Muslims to join this jihad.
Saudi Diplomat Kidnapped By AQAP Urges King To Exchange Him For Imprisoned Female, Radical Clerics
On April 15, Al-Malahem, the media wing of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released the first part of a video interview with Saudi diplomat 'Abdallah Al-Khalidi, who was kidnapped by the group in 2012. In the interview, which was posted on leading jihadi forums, Al-Khalidi urged the Saudi king to secure his release and blamed his country for killing civilians by allowing U.S. drones to take off from bases located in the kingdom. Speaking about slain U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaqi in segments from part two of this interview, Al-Khalidi described him as a preacher, not a fighter
Women Suicide Bombers Being Trained To Target Indian Towns: Indian Minister
Women fidayeen (suicide bombers) are being trained in Pakistan to carry out terror attacks on Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, and other towns in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, according to an Indian website.
On April 6, 2013, a number of so-called hacktivits, along with the hacker collective Anonymous, launched a coordinated cyberattack against Israel. The attack, which originally aimed to cause major widespread damage to many Israeli websites, appeared later to have caused no major damages according to Israeli authorities. The operation, which was dubbed #opIsrael, was welcomed by online jihadis, who, at least in one instance, called upon other members to join it by providing them with a list of Israeli government websites for possible targeting.
