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 [email protected] with "Membership" in the subject line.)
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On February 5, 2015, the official Twitter account of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a communique announcing the deaths of four of its activists, among them senior official and ideologue Sheikh Hareth Al-Nazari, in a January 31 U.S. drone strike.
The communique first states that the war between the Crusader U.S., "the bearer of the banner of the war against Islam," and the Muslims continues everywhere in the world. In this context, it notes that the Yemeni mujahideen have the right to attack Americans in Aden, New York, Khorasan, Syria, and elsewhere. It then says that on Saturday, January 31, 2015, four AQAP members were killed in a U.S. drone strike while riding in a car in the city of Al-Sa'id in the Shabwah governorate in southern Yemen, and that they were senior AQAP figure Sheikh Hareth bin Ghazi Al-Nazari aka Muhammad Al-Murshidi, Sa'id Awadh Baferj, 'Abd Al-Sami' Naser Al-Hidaa, and 'Azam Al-Hadhrami.
On February 1, 2015, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) published a statement praising the January 7 attack on the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was carried out by Cherif and Said Kouachi. GIMF also praised Amedy Coulibaly, who attacked a kosher supermarket in Paris. GIMF called the men "heroic mujahideen" and congratulated them for their "successful mission." Addressing the Charlie Hebdo attack, GIMF noted that it had shown that the unbelievers were no longer safe in their own countries, and that they could no longer insult Islam without "paying a high price."
On January 30, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released an audio message by one of its top clerics, Ibrahim Al-Rubaish. In it, Al-Rubaish speaks about the wave of solidarity in the West, particularly in France, that followed the January 7 attack on the French satiric weekly Charlie Hebdo. Denouncing these expressions of support, Al-Rubaish says that anyone who participated in it, including Muslims, should be targeted and pay a hefty price. Al-Rubaish also accuses France of leading the war on Islam and Muslims, and says that France, and all unbelievers, who participate in the aggression against Islam and Muslims and allow their citizens to freely insult Islam must also pay a price, in their security and in their economy. He stresses that the Muslims should declare war on anyone who insults the Prophet Muhammad, and that by doing so they will pressure the unbelievers' governments to pass legislation criminalizing blasphemy against Islam. He further urges Muslims to kill anyone who insults Muhammad, saying that no consultation is required in such a matter.
On February 5, 2015, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Al-Khayr province released a video titled 'To The Lone Lions,' featuring several French-speaking ISIS fighters talking about the January 2015 attacks in Paris, particularly the January 7, 2015 attack on the office of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. The men praise the attacks, and note that they managed to terrorize the French public. The men also call upon Muslims in France to carry out additional attacks and to continue spreading fear among French people.
This is the third ISIS video released by the group in recent days in which threats against France were voiced. Earlier today, ISIS released a video from its Fallujah province urging French Muslims to carry out attacks against France.
The video, which is 3:51 in duration and was released via Twitter, includes interviews with four men, three of whom deliver their messages in French.
Asked his opinion on the France attacks, the first speaker, speaking French, calls them a "great blessing." He also urges Muslims to carry out further attacks: "I call upon all the brothers in every neighborhood, every village, and every town [in France] to repeat these operations. To spread fear among the enemy." He says that France must live in fear because of its attacks against ISIS: "They [i.e. France] bomb us from their airplanes with tranquility, [and therefore] terror must enter their hearts, and fear must make them sleepless. When they wake up and go to work, they must think that it is possible that they may not return home." Addressing Muslims in France who chose not to carry out attacks, he tells them says that on Judgment Day they will regret not having acted, and exhorts: "What are you waiting for? Are you attached to this life?... Is this what you want?"
EXCLUSIVE: New ISIS Video Message Delivered In French To French Muslims: 'We Are Counting On You'
On February 5, 2015, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Fallujah province released the third installment in its 'Messages from the Murabitun [front line fighters]' series. The video features a North African ISIS fighter, likely a field commander, directing a message in French to the French people and to the Muslims living in France. The man speaks in heavily accented and broken French. He threatens France with more attacks on its soil, and calls upon the Muslims there to carry out such attacks. He urges them to attack the French infidels and to 'not leave them alone.'
In a French-language video posted on the Internet on February 3, 2015, an ISIS fighter encourages French Muslims to carry out more attacks on French soil. Brandishing a sword, he says: "The Islamic nation will recognize no end as long as your heads remain attached to your bodies. Calling French President Hollande "the doormat of the Jews," he warns: "We have thousands of soldiers in the land that you govern."
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Issues Fatwa To Justify Burning Of Jordanian Pilot
On February 3, 2015, following the immolation of Jordanian pilot Mu'adh Al-Kasasbeh, a group of ISIS activists in Syria posted a fatwa issued by the organization's 'Fatwa and Research Authority' which rules that burning non-Muslims alive 'is completely permissible'. The fatwa, dated January 20, 2015, which was apparently distributed in the streets of Raqqa, was posted on the group's Twitter account.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Offers Reward To Anyone Killing Or Wounding A Jordanian Pilot
A communiqu├® issued February 4, 2015 by the Islamic State's (ISIS) General Security Bureau announces that the organization offers a reward to anyone killing or wounding a Jordanian pilot and thereby preventing him from taking part in airstrikes against the Islamic State. Appended to the communiqu├® is a list of Jordanian pilots allegedly supplied by the captured pilot Mu'adh Al-Kasasbeh before he was burned alive. Muslims in Jordan and Syria are urged to attack these pilots or alternatively provide information on their whereabouts.
ISIS Explains Retreat From Kobane: Coalition Airstrikes Have Reduced City To Rubble
In a video released January 30, 2015 by the ISIS-affiliated news agency A'maq, two ISIS fighters refer to the organization's retreat from Kobane, which ISIS calls 'Ayn Al-Islam. They explain that they were forced to leave the town after the Coalition airstrikes reduced it to rubble, but stress that the retreat is only temporary, and that ISIS will yet return to the city and scatter the Kurds that have returned to it.
The following are details about the video, which was posted on A'maq's Twitter account:
The first speaker, standing on a hill overlooking Kobane as explosions and shellfire are heard in the background, admits that he and his comrades were forced to retreat from the city 'because of the airstrikes and the death of several brothers [ISIS fighters].' He clarifies, however, that "'the death of several brothers is not a defeat, because victory is with us. The Islamic state will endure forever. Convey [that] to Obama'.
Khalid Kelly is a Dublin-based jihadi supporter on Twitter. His account was created in March 2011, and he has tweeted 2,366 times and has 677 followers. Kelly's tweets include various threats to the Irish government, warning it that it if pursues an 'anti-Islamic' path like the UK and France, and changes its neutral position, it will be put on the list of the enemies of Islam.
Jihadi Publishes Photo Of Birth Certificate Issued By The Islamic State (ISIS)
On January 30, 2015, a photo of an infant's birth certificate issued in Aleppo province of the Islamic State (ISIS) was posted on the Jihadi Media Platform forum (alplatformmedia.com). The certificate, below, has 'Department of Health - Aleppo Province' on the upper left and the ISIS logo on the upper right. In the center, it reads: 'The Islamic State - Birth Certificate for the Grandchildren of the Caliphate.'
WARNING - GRAPHIC IMAGES: Islamic State (ISIS) Executes Homosexual By Throwing Him Off A Rooftop
On January 31, 2015, the Al-Raqqa province of the Islamic State (ISIS) published images showing the punishment for a man convicted of homosexuality by throwing him off of a tall building.
This is the third documented case of ISIS executing homosexuals this way. According to the shari'a, a person convicted of engaging in homosexual acts is to be cast off the highest place in town and then stoned to death. The masses gathered around the dead man's body below appear to be stoning him as well.
ISIS Twitter Account Encourages Attacks On Jewish Organizations In Melbourne, Australia
On February 5, 2015, a Twitter user who publishes English-language content for the Islamic State (ISIS) tweeted a link to a blog with specifics on pro-Israel and Jewish organizations on a particular street in Melbourne, Australia. The Twitter user, posting from the alias 'Islamic State,' wrote: ''Almost all Zionist organizations in Australia are located on one street. Share this info, brothers.' The tweet included a link to a January 22, 2015 post by author Michael Slay on a neo-Nazi Wordpress blog run by one 'CJ.'
ISIS 'Sinai Province' Showcases MANPAD
On February 5, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) province in Sinai released a series of photos depicting the everyday life of its men on the front lines. The photos show ISIS fighters, most of them with their faces blurred, brandishing weapons. One of the ISIS operatives, whose face is visible, is shown holding a 9K32 Strela-2/SA-7 MANPAD.
ISIS Operatives: ISIS Stormed Oil Field In Southern Libya, Captured French National
Islamic State (ISIS) operatives from Libya claim that ISIS has staged a large-scale attack on the Mabrouk oil field in the south of the country, which is operated by the French company Total, and has taken hostages, at least one of them a French national. As of yet, this claim has not been confirmed by any other sources.
Report: Islamic State Plans To Carry Out Double Suicide Attack On A Gulf State Embassy In Lebanon
According to a February 6, 2015, report in the Lebanese daily Al-Safir, the Islamic State (ISIS) was planning to carry out a double suicide attack on the embassy of a 'major Gulf state' in Beirut.
Website Close To Iranian Security Circles Threatens Assassinations Of IDF Commanders
On January 31, 2015, the Mashregh website, which is close to Iranian security circles, threatened that, in response to Israel's targeting of Hizbullah and Iranian operatives, Hizbullah would assassinate one of three IDF commanders: Golani Brigade Commander Ghassan Aliyan, Home Front Command head Maj.-Gen. Eyal Eizenberg, or Bashan Division commander Colonel Yaniv Asor.
An alleged Tunisian hacker who goes by the name 'Cm0oS' recently announced that he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and that he had hacked over 200 credit card accounts, both American and accounts from other 'infidel' countries, in response to the anti-ISIS coalition campaign in Syria and Iraq.
Following are excerpts from an article, a statement by a Taliban spokesman and an interview of another key Taliban spokesman published by one of the official websites of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government in the country under Mullah Mohammad Omar).
The article is dated January 28 and is titled 'The Rise and Fall of America in Afghanistan'. In it, the author, Taliban militant Ja'far Helmandi, argues that America, like previous invaders such as the Soviet Union, did not imagine a decade earlier that it would be fleeing in defeat.
The statement by Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, one of the two leading spokesmen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, claims that America failed to deliver its promises to build Afghan economy.
The interview with Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid touches on a range of issues, including the year-long Khyber operation launched by the Taliban during 2014 and its achievements, as well as the American involvement in Afghanistan, especially with regards to installing a pro-U.S. government in Kabul. Mujahid also attacks the Afghan-U.S. security pact that allows the U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan for an additional decade, arguing in detail that any such pact signed with an infidel nation allowing for armed infidel soldiers to stay in a Muslim country is null and void as per Islamic Shari'a and the Koran.
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Ghulam Ahmed Bilour is a senior Pakistani politician
Following the January 7 jihadi attacks on the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, public sentiments in Pakistan and India have been generally supportive of the attackers. Following are two reports indicating how a Pakistani lawmaker offered a reward for the attackers while a Muslim Indian editor is being hounded for republishing a Charlie Hebdo cover:
Pakistani Daily Report Titled: "Bilour Offers Bounty For Charlie Hebdo Owner"
According to a Pakistani daily, Pakistan's former federal minister for railways and veteran sitting Member of Parliament from the secular Awami National Party (ANP) Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has announced a bounty of $200,000 for killing the owner of French weekly Charlie Hebdo in revenge for publishing cartoons blasphemous of Prophet Muhammad.
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