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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EXCLUSIVE: Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Responsibility For Deadly Attacks On Houthis In Yemen
On March 20, 2015, "Sana'a Province" of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement taking responsibility for the deadly attacks that day against several Houthi mosques in the country.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Responsibility For Tunis Museum Attack, Says It's Only The Beginning
On March 19, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement taking responsibility for the deadly attack the previous day at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.
ISIS praised the attack, calling it a "blessed raid" that targeted "one of the dens of unbelief and vice."
It also noted that the attack was carried out by two "knights of the caliphate state," whom it identified as Abu Zakariya Al-Tunisi and Abu Anas Al-Tunisi.
ISIS noted the attack's success despite the security measures in place, adding that the museum was inside the Tunisian parliamentary secure zone.
Jihadi Media Company Praises Tunisia Attack, Calls For More Attacks On Western Tourists
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Following the deadly March 18, 2015 attack at the Bardo National Museum in Tunisia, in which 17 tourists and two Tunisians were killed, the Ifriqiyya media company, which is associated with jihad organizations in North Africa, released an article titled "Just Another Day - Commentary on the Blessed Attack on Bardo Museum." The article states that the gunmen who carried out the attack, Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, focused on killing infidels and "apostate" policemen and soldiers, and urges Muslims to carry out similar attacks, especially against tourists, with emphasis on French, British, American and Israeli nationals. It also suggests ways to kill tourists, suggesting to "drown them in the ocean, poison their food, bash their skulls with a rock, or suffocate them with pillows in their [hotel] rooms." It lists what is calls the great achievements of the attack, including the harm to Tunisia's tourism industry and economy, and threatens that additional attacks will be carried out soon, on unexpected targets throughout the country.
The following are excerpts from the article, which was posted on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam:
"The article begins with a storybook-like description of the shooters on their way to the target site: "One ordinary sunny day with nice, clear weather, the two left their homes, boarded the metro, got off at a station where they changed to another [line], and then exited the metro. They passed the Bardo police station and the headquarters of the tyrannical military intelligence [apparatus]. Leaving the bags containing their guns at a bus stop, they entered [the museum] to check it out. They went back for their bags and [again] infiltrated [the area of] the apostate parliament and the museum. One of them took out the weapons and the grenades, while the other did a short preparatory tour... The policemen and presidential guards noticed that they were armed but were so amazed they froze on the spot. 'How did you enter so easily,' they asked in astonishment, and the two answered: 'We come in the name of Allah.' Then they began throwing grenades, crying 'Allah Akbar, and shooting at infidels and at the policemen that guarded them, and the massacre began."
ISIS In Sinai Urges Muslims To Wage Jihad Against Al-Sisi's Regime
On March 13, 2015, the information bureau of the Islamic State (ISIS) in "Sinai province" released a 12-minute video titled "Messages from the Land of Sinai".[1] In the video, posted inter alia on the jihadi forum Al-Shumoukh,[2] an unmasked ISIS fighter exhorts Muslims in Sinai, Egypt and all Muslim countries to shrug off their passivity and embrace jihad in order to escape the circle of discrimination and oppression. It should be noted that the fighter appears to be well-versed in Muslim scholarship, and his Arabic dialect suggests he is not an Egyptian.
The fighter begins his message by expounding on the issue of jihad, and quoting religious texts to show that every Muslim perform the duty of jihad in defense of the faith, as well as the duty of nafir (coming to the aid of Muslims in need). He attacks Muslim groups who believe that Allah can be worshipped through democracy or in every way except through jihad, as well as all Muslims who put up with oppression and refrain from coming our against the infidels and idolaters.
Islamic State (ISIS) Member Praises Australian Suicide Bomber
Australian suicide bomber Abd Al-Rahim/Abu Abdallah, as a youngster in Chelsea soccer club shirt.
On March 16, 2015, Islamic State (ISIS) supporters published a eulogy by ISIS activist Qasura Al-Qaisi for Australian ISIS fighter Jake Bilardi, known as Abu Abdallah Al-Australi or Abd Al-Rahim Al-Australi, whom Al-Qaisi apparently knew personally.
A few days previously, Bilardi had carried out a suicide booming in the city of Ramadi, in Anbar province, Iraq, against Iraqi security forces.
In his eulogy, Al-Qaisi expressed anger that while Al-Australi, raised in an atheist family, had come from far away to defend Islam, many Muslims sit idle and do not lift a finger to help their people.
Al-Australi setting out to carry out suicide bombing
Al-Qaisi began his eulogy by telling the life story of Al-Australi as he had learned from him. Al-Australi, he said, had grown up in an atheist family, an ambitious boy, good at school and beloved by his friends and family. Al-Australi had told Al-Qaisi that he had always wondered who created man and therefore had set out on a journey to find a religion in which he could believe. He had searched the Internet and compared the various religions, until "Allah gave him a gift" and he chose Islam. Al-Australi converted three years ago, Al-Qaisi said, despite his parents' grave objections. He had performed the Islamic prayers, had begun to be interested in jihad and martyrdom, and had followed news of the mujahideed on the Internet.
ISIS In Libya Rallies Toubou Tribes, Urges Them To Join Its Ranks
Abu Hamza Al-Tebawi
As part of its efforts to draw Muslims to join its ranks in Libya, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video addressing the ethnic Toubou people, calling upon them to join the jihad under its banner.
The Toubou (also spelled Tebu) people are found mostly in northern Chad, but also in southern Libya and northeastern Niger.
During the Qadhafi era, the Toubou people faced great discrimination; however, following the Libyan revolution, they reportedly dominated Libya's southern desert, where they guarded oil fields and weapons stockpiles.
Speaking in a local dialect (accompanied by Arabic subtitles), a Toubou ISIS fighter named Abu Hamza Al-Tebawi addresses his people and urges them to join ISIS. "Your mujahideen brothers here are seeking to implement the shari'a of Allah... therefore, a Muslim should support his mujahideen brothers," he says.
ISIS Militants Destroy Graves In Libya
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
French Website Hacked By ISIS Activist
The hacked website
Supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) have been increasingly targeting French websites in their cyber-warfare efforts. On March 15, 2015, an online activist reported on the Jihad Media Platform (a pro-ISIS forum) that the website of another French company had been hacked by an ISIS supporter. The following are details:
The hacked site is Opalic.com, which belongs to a small investment and consulting company. It was targeted by a hacker who identifies himself as "MrDanger" and "Dark Master", a member of the "Supporters of the Islamic Caliphate" group.
In a tweeted statement, three leading Pakistani Taliban organizations announced that they have merged in order to fight the "apostate Pakistani military."
"We congratulate the Muslim Ummah generally and the Pakistani mujahideen and people especially, and convey the good news that the strong jihadist organizations fighting against the Pakistani imperialist infidel democratic system and this apostate unpious army - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar [TTPJA], Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] and Tehreek Lashkar-e-Islam [LeI] have united under the single name of Tehreek-e-Taliban," the Urdu-language statement reads.
The statement was posted by Ehsanullah Ehsan, previously TTP spokesman and subsequently TTPJA spokesman. It is interesting to note that this not a coalition of the three organizations, even though the word "coalition" was mentioned by these groups in the English translation of their own statement - which could be due to poor English. The statement, both in Urdu and English, clarifies that the three will work under the single name Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Urdu Daily: Pakistan Army, Local Taliban In North Waziristan Region Reach Deal
Screen grab of the report in Roznama Mashriq
According to an Urdu-language daily, the Pakistani Army and the local Taliban in the border district of North Waziristan have reached a deal, after a month of negotiations.
Roznama Mashriq, a Peshawar-based daily, reported that Maulvi Aleem Khan, the local Taliban commander in Datta Khel region of North Waziristan, confirmed in telephone calls to journalists that a deal had been agreed with the military, with the understanding of local elders and tribesmen.
Under the deal, Maulvi Aleem Khan has agreed to work "jointly" with the military against those who create law and order problems in the region. Khan said that his group's talks with the military took place at the home of a local tribal elder, and that tribal leaders played an important role.
Maulvi Aleem Khan served as several years as deputy to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander known for his pro-government stance. However, in recent years Bahadur has been in the news for his anti-government positions.
On March 19, 2015, a post on Al-Fida' forum announced that jihadis belonging to the "Al-Qaeda Electronic Base" managed to hack seven Chinese websites.
The attacks, it said, were part of the group's ongoing war against Crusader, pagan, apostate, and atheist websites, and are aimed at "raising the banner of tawhid" over the compromised sites.
FROM THE JTTM ARCHIVES: Islamic State (ISIS) Social Media Pages Targeting Western Audiences
Introduction
This report reviews the vast network of social media accounts that release and disseminate the message of the Islamic State (ISIS) organization, and forma central part of its outreach and recruitment mechanism. While in the past, jihadi groups published most of their materials on traditional media platforms, such as websites, forums and news agencies with which they are in contact, ISIS has pioneered the use of social media as the main means for spreading its message, and many of its supporters use this platform as well.
Production and Dissemination of Materials
ISIS oversees the issuing of its official materials, from production to distribution. The materials are produced and released by a small number of official outlets, but are propagated by a wide network of ISIS supporters making full use of the internet's capabilities, particularly freely-accessible social media platforms. ISIS takes advantage of the ethnic heterogeneity of its fighters and activists to address its supporters - and threaten its enemies - in their own tongues. For example, ISIS produces videos in which French-speaking fighters urge French-speaking sympathizers to help and/or join the organization, and also threaten the French authorities and people in French. Similar videos are also produced in German, English, Indonesian and other languages. For example, the videos showing the beheading of Western hostages, addressed directly to U.S. President Barack Obama, were all presented by a British jihadi speaking in English. The videos featuring British hostage John Cantlie are another good example of ISIS's media strategy of addressing the West in its own language and terms.
It should be stressed that, though the material is released in several languages, the message itself remains the same, regardless of the audience it is aimed at. Many materials in Western languages are produced by simply translating ISIS's Arabic materials, and original materials produced in Western languages also conform to the organization's standard rhetoric and ideals.
Most of the organization's messages and materials are produced and released by several official, centralized sources: non-Arabic materials by the media company Al-Hayat, and Arabic materials by the large media companies Al-Furqan, Al-I'tisam and Anjad, and by a network of local media companies serving the organization's various "provinces." The material is hosted on various file-sharing hosting platforms such as Archive.org or Just paste. it, and disseminated widely via a wide range of social media pages, using elaborate marketing strategies to obtain maximum visibility, such as pre-announcements of events or releases, and watermarking of images for distribution. Each release comes with a title and banner suitable for social media distribution: for instance, a recent ISIS video titled "Flames of War" as advertised days before its release with a slickly-produced Western-style trailer and banners. Many ISIS supporters remarked that the trailer reminded them of a Hollywood production.
Banner of the "Flame of War" video, released and produced by the official media company Al-Hayat
To enforce its policies and protect its interests, the organization often limits its members' access to internet resources. Members active on social media report that the organization has forbidden its fighters in Iraq to access the internet, and that some units are forbidden to use any electronic communication devices. Also, after the international coalition launched its intervention against ISIS, the organization imposed a media blackout to prevent the leaking of information that could betray the location of its fighters. The media blackout was extended to the use of any mobile devices in the city of Mosul and Kobane. ISIS considers the use of social media and other online activity while on the battlefield a tactical risk. A British ISIS fighter tweeted in October 2014 that ISIS had forbidden its members to give interviews to Western media, writing: "Producers, journalists and reporters asking for interviews, [know that] we're not allowed to interact with any media agency except our central media." The scarcity of non-ISIS news sources in the areas controlled by the organization, and ISIS's strict enforcement of its media policies, enable it to tightly monitor and control the information that filters out of Iraq and Syria.
The Al-Hayat Media Company
As part of its emphasis on targeting non-Arabic speakers, in May 2014 ISIS created a special media company for this purpose, Al-Hayat Media, which has already released numerous and varied materials in several languages. All recent ISIS material targeting the West - including hostage execution videos, recruitment videos and official translations of messages by ISIS spokesman Adnani - was released by Al-Hayat and stamped with its logo.
Changing Dynamics In The Global Jihad Movement (3): The Growing Presence Of ISIS In Libya
Introduction
On November 13, 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi announced the establishment of a new ISIS wilaya (province) in Libya and the appointment of a governor there. The new province is part of ISIS's recent expansion into several countries, including Algeria, Egypt (Sinai), Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, where groups of mujahideen recently swore fealty to the organization and its leader. Following Al-Baghdadi's announcement, ISIS and its supporters celebrated the establishment of this new province along with other recent expansions. ISIS supporters online launched hashtags such as #Wilayat_Barqa (Barqa Province), and in its English language magazine Dabiq, ISIS praised Libya as the country with "the strongest presence of the Islamic State" and claimed that "the larger cities [in Libya are] already being administered solely by [ISIS] leaders and soldiers."
Despite the signs of growing support for ISIS in Libya in recent months, and especially since Al-Baghdadi's announcement of the new province, little is actually known about the this province: How much territory it actually controls, the individuals or groups active there, or the identity of ISIS's appointed governor. In fact, it is difficult to verify whether the organization has extensive presence in Libya at all, due to the volatile situation in the country and the presence of numerous Islamist groups and militias on the ground.
