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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EXCLUSIVE: Viewer Discretion Advised: Children Execute Captives in New ISIS Video
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EXCLUSIVE: Dutch ISIS Fighter, Popular On Social Media, Holds Q&A On Reddit
Israfil Yilmaz, a Dutch Islamic State (ISIS) fighter of Turkish origin who has previously been active on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, has moved to Reddit after numerous suspensions and bans chased him off other sites. One Reddit feature is AMA ("Ask Me Anything"), in which a celebrity or other notable individual answers questions from readers; on November 22, 2015, Yilmaz held his own AMA session. This is the first time an ISIS fighter has used this feature as a platform.
On November 30, 2015, a jihadi Twitter account tweeted tips for Muslims to help them navigate security at Western airports without arousing suspicion. The account, which was created on November 30, had 1,303 followers within nine hours of its launch. It appears to belong to a user who had published English translations of Arabic-language Islamic State (ISIS). Her Twitter account also links to a Telegram channel.
EXCLUSIVE: CaliphateCare: ISIS Medical Services Propaganda
Introduction
The Islamic State (ISIS) invests considerable efforts in demonstrating that it provides proper services to the people living under its rule. Media material is released on a daily basis to show that ISIS repairs and maintains infrastructures, build roads, maintains public order and even cultivates public parks. Since healthcare is among the primary needs that a state must meet, the organization makes efforts to prevent a brain drain of medical professionals and to keep clinics and hospitals functioning. ISIS knows that unless it provides adequate healthcare, it will find it difficult to gain the support and obedience of the people. Moreover, ISIS requires qualified medical practitioners not only to care for the civilian population but also to treat its fighters.
Recent reports indicate that the organization is having problems in this domain. Reports have it that many local doctors have left the areas under ISIS control, or are trying to leave, due to the escalating attacks by the organization's enemies and also due to the religious restrictions that ISIS imposes on them. According to the activist group called "Al-Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently," which reports on the situation in this ISIS stronghold in Syria, the cost of healthcare in the city has risen sharply because most medical practices and centers have closed, leaving only one hospital that provides free medical care.
To show that it has matters in hand, it publishes weekly photo reports on medical services in its territories, showcasing clinics and hospitals, vaccination drives, and professional courses being delivered to medical personnel. Many of the photos are of children receiving vaccinations or medical treatment; this is presumably meant to solicit sympathy among ISIS supporters and to present the organization as caring and humane. In addition, ISIS' media companies and the organization supporters periodically circulate photos, videos and blog entries that call upon healthcare professionals to perform hijra (migrate) to the Islamic State and participate in the war effort and in building the newly-founded caliphate. The organization and its supporters also threaten medical personnel who wish to leave the ISIS territories, as well as those who have already left, promising that they will be killed and that their clinics and property will be seized.
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-ISIS Islamist Group 'London Islamic Hotspot' Active On Facebook And Twitter
A group called London Islamic Hotspot openly promotes the virtues of jihad and supports ISIS, and shares graphics and memes with quotations from radical clerics such as Anwar Al-Awlaki and Musa Ahmed Jibril on its social media accounts. On Facebook, London Islamic Hotspot is listed as a public group and currently has over 1,000 followers. On Twitter, the group has far fewer followers, however, the content distributed on Twitter is more overtly radical.
Facebook Posts
On Facebook, pictures linked to radical preachers or organizations are posted, and users are free to contribute what they would like to the group.
In recent days, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media group Vijesti Ummeta ("News of the Ummah"), has stepped up its efforts to encourage Bosnian Muslims to carry out terrorist attacks in Bosnia and elsewhere in Europe.
Celebrating Killing Of Bosnian Soldiers: "Just The Beginning For Europe"
On November 19, 2015, following a Bosnian's killing of two Bosnian soldiers in Sarajevo, Vijesti Ummeta said in a statement celebrating the act that this was "just the beginning for Bosnia and... for Europe," and urged Bosnians who sympathize with ISIS to go forth and carry out attacks throughout Europe.
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Jihadis Celebrate San Bernardino Shooting
Jihadis have been celebrating yesterday's deadly attack in California, in which a married couple opened fire, killing at least 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The suspects, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, died in a shootout with the police hours later. While no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, emerging media reports have noted the FBI has started treating the case as a terrorism investigation, due to the supposed preparation that went into the attack, and recent reports that at least one of the suspects had viewed Islamic State (ISIS) propaganda online.
Following are examples jihadis reactions to the attack on social media:
Using the Arabic Hashtag "California Attack," Irhabiyyah Holandiyyah ("Dutch Terrorist") tweeted: "America's dog negro Obama, you should pay the jizya [poll tax] to the #Islamic_State in humiliation or your fate will be [like the Iraqi soldiers killed last year in Camp] Speicher."
Using the same Hashtag, user Al-Mutafa'il celebrated: "O Allah, heal our chests."
On December 2, 2015, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Barqah province in Libya, released a new video in which two members of the group praised the perpetrators of the November 13 attacks in Paris and vowed that U.S. cities New York and Washington as well the Russian capital of Moscow will be next.
New ISIS Video In Russian Urges Muslims To Carry Out Lone Wolf Attacks Against Infidels
On November 23, 2015, the Al-Furat media center, which is affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), released a nearly 22-minute video featuring a Russian-speaking narrator calling on Muslims everywhere to carry out lone-wolf attacks, with knives, cars, or guns, against infidel civilians and soldiers.
ISIS Al-Raqqa Shows Beheading Of Russian 'Spy,' Vows To Avenge Russia's Killing Of Muslims In Syria
On December 2, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Raqqa province released a video showing the confession and beheading of a Russian spy who was sent to the Islamic State in 2014. A Russian-speaking ISIS fighter, who beheads the man, decries Russia's bombing of innocent Muslims in the Islamic State and says that the beheading signals the beginning of the battle against it. The man threatens that Russians shall not be safe even in their own homes, and that ISIS will avenge every Muslim that Russia killed in Syria. "We shall kill your sons for every son you've killed here," he says.
ISIS Threatens Tbilisi In New Video
On December 28, 2015, the ISIS-affiliated Furat Media Center released a video titled "A Message to the People in Georgia." The video, which is some 12 minutes long and was disseminated via Furat's Twitter page, shows four Georgian ISIS fighters, two of whom deliver messages in Georgian. The following are the main points of their message, translated from the video's Arabic subtitles.
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Suicide Attack In Tunis
The Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the November 24, 2015 suicide attack targeting a bus carrying presidential security personnel in the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The attack killed over dozen people and wounded many others, according to various media reports.
On November 30, 2015, a user on the pro-ISIS jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam posted an article titled "To Lone Wolves - Increase Your Strikes Against Them" by one Anjad Al-Baghdadi, encouraging Muslims everywhere to attack the enemies of Islam. The author states that he felt a duty to share some of his own experience, amassed during many years of engaging in jihad, with regards to the certain and effective execution of attacks. He wrote: "What is the point of firing dozens, or even hundreds of bullets and killing just one man and wounding one more?! And this is a best case scenario. Therefore, I wanted to share with our supporting brothers and 'Lone Wolves' all the knowledge that Allah has bestowed on us and the lessons we learned from our experience in jihad, as well as the sacrifices we have made on the path of Allah."
ISIS Releases Seventh Issue Of French-Language Magazine 'Dar Al-Islam'
On November 30, 2015, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Al-Hayat Media Center released the seventh issue of its French-language magazine Dar Al-Islam. The issue, titled "France On Its Knees," was distributed on Twitter, and was hosted on the Internet Archive (archive.org).
Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen Praises Paris, Bamako Attacks; Urges Further Attacks On Western Interests
On November 26, 2015, the general command of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, issued a statement expressing support for the recent attacks in Paris and Bamako and calling for further attacks against Western targets - especially against financial and political institutions, as well as military bases. The statement, titled "Victory Comes through Patience: A Statement from the General Command on the Crusader Campaign against our People in Iraq and Syria," includes a tirade against France, "the enemy of Islam," and vows that the war with France will continue until Islam rules the world or until France stops its war on Muslims. It is noteworthy that, although Al-Shabab does not explicitly mention the Islamic State (ISIS), which carried out the Paris attacks, it is unequivocal in its support of these attacks. This, despite its conflict with ISIS due to the latter's ongoing (and partly successful) attempts to lure fighters away from Al-Shabab.
On Dec 2, 2015, Al-Qaeda's media arm Al-Sahab released an audio recording in which the group's leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, praised the attackers who targeted the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 and called on Muslims to pursue and target anyone who mocks the Prophet Muhammad. In his recorded statement, which is titled "Support your Prophet," Al-Zawahiri also urged the mujahideen to take the war inside the lands of the enemies.
JN Video Documents Capture Of Syrian Regime Airbase, Execution Of Dozens Of Syrian Troops
On November 26, 2015, the official media body of Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), Al-Manara Al-Baida, released a 23-minute video titled "The Raid of the Trenches," documenting the takeover of the Syrian regime airbase in Abu Al-Dhuhur, near Idlib. The video, which was posted on JN's official Twitter account (@morasel_jn1), also shows the execution of dozens of Syrian soldiers and officers who had been captured. (It should be mentioned that, unlike ISIS videos, the JN video does not show the moment of the execution itself). Also shown are testimonies by Syrian hostages who describe the battle and express anger at their commanders, who promised to rescue them but did not.
AQAP Threatens To Target Saudi Arabia As It Plans To Execute 52 Accused Terrorists
On Dec 1, 2015, Al-Malahem, the media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a statement in which the group vowed to target Saudi soldiers and members of the ruling family in light of news reports announcing that the Kingdom is planning to execute 52 people accused of terrorism. In the statement, which was published on AQAP's official twitter account, the group vowed to "spill the blood" of Saudi soldiers "before the immaculate blood of the prisoners dries out." After vowing to kill members of the Saudi ruling family, the group promised that it will not disappoint the prisoners.
AQIM Warns Azawad Tribesmen: Anyone Collaborating With The French Will Be Punished
On December 1, 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a six-minute video documenting a meeting between AQIM commanders in the Sahara region and tribal leaders in the Azawad region in northern Mali. The video, which was apparently filmed with a smartphone and is of poor quality, was posted December 1, 2015 by Alakhbar.info, an independent Mauritanian news agency, and bears the news agency's logo. The message that accompanies it states that it shows "the senior commander of AQIM's Sahara Emirate and head of the Al-Furqan brigade, known as Talaha Al-Libi, speaking at a festive ceremony recently held by one of the Arab tribes in Azawad." In his speech Al-Libi threatens that anyone who fights in Mali alongside the French forces will be punished by the mujahideen.
Syrian-Based Saudi Cleric Calls Uyghur Muslims To Arms Against China
On November 30, 2015, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released a video featuring a message from Syria-based Saudi cleric Sheikh 'Abdallah Al-Muhaisini, who urges Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) to remain steadfast in face of China's oppression, and to wage jihad against it.
The video, which is 10:34 in duration, is dated November 2015. It was released on TIP's blog, and also uploaded to the Internet Archive (archive.org).
TIP Video Features Message By Syrian Uyghur Instructor Abu Al-Rida Al-Turkestani
On November 22, 2015, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released a video featuring a message from Abu Al-Rida Al-Turkestani extolling jihad for the sake of Allah.
Al-Turkestani, who is in fact Syrian but uses the Al-Turkestani name to denote his affiliation rather than his ethnicity, is an instructor for Uyghur fighters in Syria; he is responsible for their religious indoctrination. Al-Turkestani has previously appeared in other TIP releases.
Commander Reveals Details On Uyghur Fighters' Journey From China To Syria
A post on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, which is identified with the Islamic State, presents an interview with an Uyghur commander in Syria. The same text has also been posted on several Facebook accounts since November 22, 2015, and its original author is unknown. The commander discusses the toughness, courage and devotion of the Uyghur fighters. His statements reveal details about the route these fighters take and the methods they use in getting from China to Syria.
