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.)
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On October 19, 2012, the Islamist news agency Haq reported that the Syrian jihadi group Jabhat Al-Nusra had issued several communiques in which it claimed responsibility for a new string of attacks against the Assad regime throughout Syria. These included the killing of numerous regime shabiha ("thugs") and members of the security apparatus; the destruction of a large number of tanks in Damascus, Idlib, and Aleppo, and in their surrounding rural areas; the downing of a fighter plane in Damascus; and an attack on two military camps in which dozens of soldiers were killed.
Jihadis Blame Hamas For Death Of Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi, Promise To Retaliate Against Israel
Hisahm Sa'idani, aka Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi
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On October 13, 2012, the Israeli Air Force killed two men in the Gaza strip town of Jabalya, who were later identified as Hisham Sa'idani, aka Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi, the founder and leader of the Salafi jihad group Jama'at Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, and Ashraf Sabbah, aka Abu Al-Bara, leader of the Salafi jihad group Ansar Al-Sunna. The two recently joined forces to establish a new group, Majlis Shura Al-Mujahideen, which operates in the Gaza-Sinai region.
On October 16, 2012, the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam published a eulogy for Abu Walid Al-Maqdisi and Abu Al-Bara Al-Maqdisi, penned by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis and dated October 15. In it, the group stressed that "the blood of the Muslim heroes is not cheap, nor is it shed in vain, and the Jews will pay dearly for every drop they spill." The group said it had taken upon itself to avenge the two, and that Israel should expect a devastating response. In a similar vein, the same day, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida, citing "jihadi sources," reported that jihadi groups could soon be expected to execute a "quality and large-scale operation" in Sinai, in retribution for the killing of the head of the Salafi-jihadi movement in Gaza and commander of Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, Hisham Al-Sa'idani aka Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi.
On October 12, 2012, Al-Qaeda's media wing, Al-Sahab, released a new audio message by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in which he speaks about the controversial anti-Islamic film "Innocence of Muslims" and the storming of the U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt. Despite congratulating the free, proud and zealous Muslims who stormed those two embassies, Al-Zawahiri does not mention the consequent death of the four U.S. diplomats, including ambassador Christopher Stevens, who all died in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
Moez Garsallaoui
According to an October 15, 2012 post on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, Tunisian jihad operative Moez Garsallaoui has been killed in an airstrike in Waziristan. The posting is by a person calling himself "Abu Laith Al-Waziri." Garsallaoui, who was the husband of Malika Al-'Aroud, a Belgian jihadi imprisoned in Belgium, spent the last few years in Waziristan, and occasionally wrote on jihadi forums using the nicknames "Abu Mu'adh Al-Tunsi," "Abu Mu'adh Al-Qairawani," and "Jund Al-Khilafa." Abu Laith claims that he was the emir of Jund Al-Khilafa, the little-known jihad group that has carried out terrorist attacks in Kazakhstan, and which also claimed responsibility for Muhammad Merah's attacks in Toulouse. A member of this group wrote a post on a jihadi forum a few months ago describing his acquaintance with Merah.
On October 13, 2012, a member of Shumoukh Al-Islam forum going by the name Abu Mariyah Al-Filistini posted what he claimed was advice on a variety of topics that he had received from prominent Salafi-jihadi cleric Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi after visited the latter in Jordanian prison.
Online Jihadi Calls On Muslims to Target French Nationals If France Intervenes In Azawad
On October 14, 2012, Ghulamu Ashabul Ukhdoud, a member of the leading jihadi forum Al-Fida', posted a thread in which he encouraged Muslims to target French nationals everywhere if France sends its troops to Azawad to fight jihadi groups currently controlling the west African region.
Libyan Ansar Al-Shari'a Group Lays Down Its Arms In Favor Of Da'wa-Based Approach
On October 14, 2012, the Islamic website Islammeo.cc reported that the Libyan militia group Ansar Al-Shari'a, which has been implicated in the deadly September 11, 2012 attack against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, has chosen to renounce its arms and adopt a non-militarily approach instead.
Report: AQAP Plans To Reclaim Control Of Areas It Previously Withdrew From In Southern Yemen
On October 16, 2012, the London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had resurfaced in the Al-Mahfad District of Abyan Governorate, and was working toward regaining control of that governorate. The report, citing Al-Mahfad's head of security, noted that AQAP had distributed flyers throughout the district warning of its plans to re-seize Abyan Governorate and to take control of Al-Mahfad, Lawdar, and Mudiyah Districts.
