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.
On September 18, 2012, Muhib Ru'yat Al-Rahman, a senior writer on leading jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, suggested that Muslims living in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.S. kill Westerners and display their decapitated heads along roads with a statement reading: "This is the punishment of those who insult our prophet." While expressing respect for those calling to boycott European and American products over the release of the film "Innocence of Muslims," which negatively depicts Muhammad, Muhib insists that the best way to deter people from insulting Muhammad and his wives is to implement his proposal.
Senior AQAP Sheikh: The Only Response To Insults To The Prophet's Honor Is Bloodshed And Beheadings
In a 10-minute audio message, Hareth bin Ghazi Al-Nazari, a senior sheikh in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), exhorts the Muslims to attack the US for distributing the anti-Muhammad film. He states that insulting the Prophet is an unpardonable sin which renders pointless any dialogue or demands for apology, and that the only response to it is to kill and chop off heads.
Egyptian Jihadi Cleric In New Fatwa: Creators Of Anti-Islamic Film Must Be Killed
On September 17, 2012, Al-Bayan, a media outlet of the jihadi movement in Egypt, published a fatwa on jihadi forums issued by Ahmad 'Ashoush, a prominent figure in the movement, calling to kill the creators of the anti-Islamic film "Innocence of Muslims." It should be noted that several months ago, 'Ashoush issued a similar fatwa, urging to kill non-Muslims who insult Muhammad, in retaliation for a cartoon row in Germany.
AQIM Calls For Attacks On U.S. Embassies In North Africa
On September 18, 2012, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) published a communiqué in which it urged Muslims in North Africa to emulate the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and attack U.S. diplomats and embassies in their countries.
On September 20, 2012, a member of zangetna.com, an online forum affiliated with slain Libyan dictator Muammar Al-Qadhafi, published a post titled "Embarrassing Confession to the Americans by Sufyan bin Qumu, bin Laden's Driver."
In New Video Series, Adam Gadahn Presents Al-Qaeda's Perspective On Arab Spring
SUPPORT OUR WORK
On September 20, 2012, Al-Qaeda's media wing, Al-Sahab, released a video which it described as the first installment in a five-part series titled "The Nation of Sacrifice and Martyrdom Facing Treason and Tyranny," which will present the organization's perspective on the Arab Spring. The series is presented by Al-Qaeda's American-born media operative Adam Gagahn, who also wrote and produced it.
At least 16 militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are planning to carry out attacks in the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in the next two weeks, according to a Pakistani newspaper report. Following are excerpts from the report: "The report – circulated by the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) at the interior ministry and shared with all provincial home departments, provincial and federal police departments and the federal capital's commissioner office – said that Adiala Jail [in Rawalpindi] is likely to be the main target of the assailants who intend to free their accomplices in a prison break. "Additionally, the terrorists, all highly trained and reported to be currently residing in [the town of] Attock, are expected to simultaneously target government installations and attempt kidnapping some high-profile people in the twin cities."
A video released by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shows the severed heads of 12 Pakistani soldiers and justifies their killing, and vows that jihad will continue until Islamic shari'a rule is enforced in Pakistan. The 9-minute video, titled "Ghazwat-ul-Hind" ("The Battle of India"), was released by the TTP's media company Umar Media and sent to local journalists by Sirajuddin, the spokesman of the TTP's Malakand chapter. The Malakand Taliban, loyal to hardline cleric Maulana Fazlullah, are hiding in Afghanistan's Kunar province, from where they carry out sporadic attacks on Pakistani military checkposts and allied tribal militias in the Bajaur Agency, Dir Upper and Dir Lower districts of Pakistan. Pakistani military officials have confirmed that 15 Pakistani soldiers went missing during the recent fighting in Bajaur Agency. However, the Pakistani army has not confirmed that the soldiers showed in the TTP video are the same individuals. The footage shows the heads of the slain soldiers placed in a line on the ground. An unidentified Taliban commander wearing traditional tribal dress justifies their killing. He is flanked by several other militants, some of whom are masked and at least one of whom is armed with a large axe.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is the top operational commander of the Taliban's Haqqani Network, which was founded by his father, Jalaluddin Haqqani. In an interview that appeared in the July 2012 issue of Morchal ("Bunker"), the Pashtu-language magazine of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's umbrella organization), he denied Western reports that his network is separate from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The following are excerpts from the interview:
Question: "Kindly introduce yourself to the readers of Morchal."
Sirajuddin Haqqani: "My name is Sirajuddin Haqqani; and I am the son of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani. I am known as Khalifa [Caliph] among the Mujahideen. I am the governor of Khost province as per the order of Emir-ul-Momineen [Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar]."
Question: "Could you inform us on the health of the distinguished flag-bearer of jihad against imperialism, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani."
Sirajuddin Haqqani: "Compared to the past, he is in good health. However, weakness in old age is a natural phenomenon. We urge the ummah [Muslim nation] to pray for his good health."
Question: "I first met Jalaluddin Haqqani in Darul Haqqania in Pakistan during the jihad against the Russians: a handsome tall man, wearing white clothes and a jihadi [camouflage] jacket with a high turban and a pistol hanging from his shoulder. He was representing the Afghan jihad in a victorious manner. He always delivered emotional speeches..."
Sirajuddin Haqqani: "We always consult him on key issues pertaining to the ongoing jihad. In the light of his experience, all his advice benefits the Islamic Emirate and the jihad. He is physically weak, but his resolve is as strong as iron. This is evident from the fact that, in the current sensitive period, some sincere friends arranged for him to receive medical treatment abroad, but he firmly declined, because it would keep him away from the jihadi consultations and the battlefield…"
Question: "...The poisonous reports of Western propaganda claim that [the Haqqani Network] is a separate network, independent [from the Islamic Emirate]... Can you assure the Western world that [the network] is an integral part of the Islamic Emirate?"
Sirajuddin Haqqani: "...The stance of Islamic Emirate never changes, and we follow the Emir-ul-Momineen [Mullah Mohammad Omar] in the framework of Islam, without seeking status or material gain. This is enough to assure the world that our organizational affairs are completely controlled and run by the Islamic Emirate."
On September 17, 2012, the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Fajr Media Company announced the establishment of a "Technical Committee" to act as a reference vis-à-vis Al-Qaeda's two trusted forums, Al-Fida' and Shumoukh Al-Islam, for all technical-related issues. The committee will work with online jihadis to develop and improve their technical knowledge and capabilities, with an aim to overtake the enemy in the field of media and propaganda.
AQIM Threatens To Kill French Hostages If France Interferes In Northern Mali
On September 19, 2012, the Mauritanian website Sahara Media reported that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is willing to negotiate with the French government over the four hostages kidnapped some two years ago in Niger. The website expressed its hope that the French authorities would do the right thing by taking the first step in this matter. The website quotes from an AQIM communiqué addressed to the hostages' families. In it, AQIM states that it always welcomed negotiations aimed at "finding a reasonable and just solution," but that the French government "rejected this option and gambled with the lives" of the hostages. In fact, says AQIM, the French government pursued a policy of completely ignoring the hostage situation for over two years, and, had the families not decided to "break the barrier of silence," the French president wouldn't have even met with them – a meeting which is, in itself, "an important turning point in the process of advancing this matter."
On September 17, 2012, the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam published a communiqué by the Salafi-jihadi movement in Sinai. The communiqué contradicts the Egyptian army's version of the previous day's events, according to which it attacked a Sinai village and arrested "10 senior and dangerous men from the criminal takfir organizations," presenting instead its own version of events. The communiqué stresses that these organizations target "the Zionist enemy" and not military or police forces, but that, if threatened and forced to defend themselves and their honor, they will do so.
Following is an overview:
First, the organization presents its version of the events of September 16, 2012, saying that the Egyptian army attacked Al-Muqata'ah village in the morning with large forces that included over 20 APCs and one helicopter. They attacked the village mosque and conducted a search there in a manner that failed to respect the mosque's sanctity. Later, they attacked an educational institute, fired indiscriminately from the roof of the mosque, and arrested two teachers, thereafter firing on homes and arresting eight innocent village residents. In response, young men from the village sabotaged two APCs and rammed the helicopter, which caused the army and helicopter to flee the area quickly. In another confrontation in the village of Al-Zahir, an elderly woman and her children were injured by military fire.
Violence In Sinai Expected To Escalate Following Death Of Salafi-Jihadi Commander
Egyptian security sources in Sinai report that Suleiman Ahmidan, the military commander of the Salafi-jihadi movement in the region, has been killed as part of a blood feud within his Bedouin tribe. He was murdered by a family member in retaliation for his killing of Sheikh Khalaf Al-Mani'i and his son several months ago.
Masked men have threatened Christians in the Sinai Peninsula, calling on them to leave within 48 hours or suffer the consequences. The threat has sparked fear among Christians working in the Sinai as government clerks.
