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February 27, 2015 JTTM Weekly No. 139

Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary

February 27, 2015
JTTM Weekly No. 139

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: Al-Shabab Magazine Praises France Attacks, Urges Muslims In Europe To Emulate Them

On February 27, 2015, the seventh issue of Gaidi Mtaani magazine, which is affiliated with the Somali Al-Qaeda-affiliate Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen and includes content in Swahili and English, was released on top jihadi forums.

 

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Supporter Lists Western Military Bases In UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Stressing Their Key Role In Campaign Against ISIS

In two recent posts on the pro-ISIS forum Jihadi Media Platform, a member calling himself Muhammad Bin 'Abd Al-Wahab listed Western military bases in UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, while stressing the importance of these bases for the campaign against ISIS. He also supplied explanations, images and aerial photos of the bases, apparently taken from public sources.

The first post, from February 22, features a photo of Americans performing to an audience of local women, about which the forum member comments: "This is the result of the rule of the apostates in the UAE: the selling of our religion, our honor, our land and our water."

This post also lists four major Western bases in the UAE, with some information on each:

The Al-Dhafra Airbase near Abu Dhabi houses American and French forces.


Al-Dhafra Airbase

 

New Al-Shabab Video Documents 2013 Nairobi Westgate Mall Attack, Threatens Attacks Against The West

Following are excerpts from the video-clip, which was posted on the Internet on February 21, 2015:

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV

"Then when the sacred months have passed, kill the Mushrikoun (polytheists) wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform As-Salat, and give Zakat, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." -At-Tawbah: 5

Voice of Osama bin Laden: "The war will either be ours or yours. If it's the former then it is your loss and humiliation for eternity, and by the blessing of Allah, the wind is blowing in this direction. If it's the latter, then read the pages of history, for we are a nation that never forgets injustices against it. We seek vengeance over a lifespan and the days and nights will not elapse until we take vengeance similar to that of September 11th, by the permission of Allah.

"Our mind now appears exhausted, your existence wretched, and the matter is headed towards that which you hate. As for us, we have nothing to lose and he who swims in an ocean does not fear the rainwater. You have invaded our lands, transgressed against our dignity and honor, spilt our blood and plundered our wealth. You have demolished our houses and expelled us, you have destroyed our security and now we will deal with you in a similar manner."

 

ISIS Training Camp For Children In Al-Raqqah, Syria

A video released on February 22, 2015 shows an ISIS training camp for children in Al-Raqqah, Syria. One of the instructors said in the video that the children had come from "the Levant and elsewhere." In addition, the video shows children undergoing physical training and being tested on their knowledge of Islamic principles.

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV

Arabic song plays in background, children in military fatigues line up in formation

Instructor: "Ready?"

Children: "Ready!"

Instructor: "Down! Up! Down! Up!"

The children perform calisthenics

[]

Adult speaker: "Here at the Farouq Institute for (Jihadi) Cubs, there are cubs from the muhajirun and ansar from the Levant and elsewhere. We have been brought together by Allah to learn this religion."

 

Islamic State Announces Establishment Of English-Speaking Schools

The Twitter page ÔÇ£Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered SilentlyÔÇØ is run by a group of local activists and expose crimes and atrocities committed there, both by the Syrian regime and by ISIS. On February 22, 2015, the page posted a photo of an ISIS notice in English that is addressed to ÔÇ£English-speaking muhajirounÔÇØ (immigrants to the Islamic State) and announces the establishment of two new schools for their children, one for boys and one for girls. The opening of such schools reflects the abundance of foreign fighters in ISIS's ranks.

 

Children In Yemen Play At 'Reenacting' ISIS Beheadings


Photo of Yemeni children reenacting ISIS beheading video

The brutal execution videos released by the Islamic State (ISIS) in recent months have received extraordinary global attention, including from children.

In a five-minute, low quality video, a group of Yemeni children reenact the ISIS video showing the execution of Egyptian Cops in Libya. The video includes all of the elements of ISIS executions video: the background nashid "Soon, soon" that played in the background of the Copt execution video; shots of handcuffed "victims" being marched to the site, and more.

 

Another ISIS Video Shows Caged Kurdish Hostages, Threatens Kurdish Leadership

On February 22, 2015, the media wing of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Kirkuk issued another video of the Kurdish hostages. A video released on February 13 showed the hostages, imprisoned in iron cages, being paraded on pickup trucks through the streets of Kirkuk. The new video, some 10 minutes long, features similar footage, as well as a message to the Kurdish leadership and people delivered by an ISIS operative. It also presents interviews with several of the prisoners, and biographical details about each of them, according to which they are officers in the Kirkuk police force and in the Iraqi army, and one of them is Turkmen in origin. 

 

Kurdish Peshmerga Prisoners Paraded In Cages In New ISIS Video

"Peshmerga militia prisoners captured by soldiers of the Islamic State"

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV

ISIS Member: "In the name of Allah. Prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and his followers. This is a message to the Muslim Kurdish people. We want to tell you that our war is not against you, but against the secular infidel Kurds, because their disbelief and atheism are leading you to the Hellfire. We want to shift you from worshipping people to worshipping Allah. Despite all this, we would like to say to the Peshmerga people: Stop all actions (against ISIS), or else your fate will be like them - imprisoned or under the ground."

[...]

ISIS Member: "What is your name?"

Prisoner 1: "Faysal Ali Rashid."

ISIS Member: "What region are you from?"

Prisoner 1: "I'm from Kirkuk. I'm Kurdish."

ISIS Member: "From what tribe?"

Prisoner 1: "Barzani."

[...]

ISIS Member: "What would you like to say to the Peshmerga?"

Prisoner 1: "I hope that they stop all action, because they cannot simply follow the Crusaders and the Jews. They must stop fighting the Muslims, because the true Islam is the Islam of (the Islamic State). I would like to say that they must not fight you."

 

ISIS Militants Enjoy A Day Of R&R At An Iraqi Lake

A video posted on the Internet on February 21, 2015 shows a group of ISIS militants enjoying a day of relaxation at an Iraqi lake. The video was titled "The tourism of my nation is Jihad for the sake of Allah."

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV

 

Islamic State (ISIS) Takes Responsibility For Double Suicide Attack In Eastern Libya

On February 20, 2015, the Barqa province of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya released a statement in which it took responsibility for a double suicide attack that targeted Gen. Khalifa Haftar's forces in the town of Al-Qubah, west of Derna. The attacks killed and wounded dozens of people, ISIS wrote in the statement. 

Last May, Gen. Haftar and forces allies with him began an offensive against Islamists in the country.

ISIS noted that the attacks, which targeted an operations room belonging to Haftar's forces, were in response to the killing of Muslims in Derna, which, along with Benghazi, has been a center for Gen. Haftar's campaign. ISIS further noted that the attacks were in revenge for the Tobruk-based Libyan government's role in killing those Muslims. The former has been generally aligned with anti-Islamist factions.

 

Pro-ISIS Twitter Account Provides Tutorial On Bypassing Phone Entry When Opening New Twitter Accounts

On February 23, 2015, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) twitter account released a tutorial on bypassing the need to provide a mobile phone number when opening a new Twitter account.  

The method, says the tutorial, comes after the Twitter administration made it mandatory to enter a phone number during registration, a matter which, it says, "poses a danger to your personal security."

 

Urdu Daily: Qatar-Based Taliban Leader At Center Of Contacts Between Afghan Government, Taliban

At the center of informal contacts between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul - being brokered through China and Pakistan - is a Taliban commander based in Qatar, according to an Urdu-language daily.

Qari Deen Mohammad Hanif, who until 2001 held the portfolios of the ministries of Planning and Higher Education in the Taliban government in Kabul, is a Doha, Qatar-based representative of the Afghan Taliban. A political office of the Afghan Taliban functions from Qatar.

 

Images: Pro-ISIS Graffiti On Walls In Pakistani Cities Of Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu

Following are images of the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) graffiti that has been reported in various Pakistani cities in recent months:

Pro-ISIS grafitti at Punjab University, Lahore: "Long Live ISIS"; "Caliph Abu Bakr Baghdadi, March Ahead - Lashkar-e-Khorasan," and more. (Feb 9, 2015)

In Karachi, pro-ISIS slogan (October 16, 2014)

 

American Female ISIS Member Tweets About Life In The Islamic State

An American woman using the Twitter name Irina is a new resident of the Islamic State. Irina's profile image is of a woman in a niqab, and her Twitter byline reads: "I've heard the blood of the kuffar [infidel] is delicious. I came here to enjoy it."

 

Love And Jihad: American Girl, Welsh Jabhat Al-Nusra Fighter Wed In Syria, Share Their Jihad Experiences On Twitter, Ask.fm

A young man from Wales, who is currently fighting with Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) in Syria, and an American convert to Islam, who also uses Twitter, from the San Francisco Bay area and currently in Syria, have, as can be determined from their Twitter accounts, wed in Syria.

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