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: American Journalist Associated With Jabhat Al-Nusra Survives Drone Strike
On June 26, 2016, U.S. national Bilal Abdul Kareem, a media operative who reports from Syria, wrote on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that he had survived a drone strike.
EXCLUSIVE: A Look At The Facebook Page Of An American Medical School Graduate Who Joined ISIS
It was recently revealed that a 24-year-old medical school graduate from Flushing, Michigan, has gone to work as a doctor in the Islamic State in Syria. Authorities suspect that he arrived in Syria in March 2015, accompanied by a group of other young professionals with medical skills.
EXCLUSIVE: In Tumblr Blog, Islamic State Doctors Advise Prospective Medical Professionals Who Wish To Join The Group
A Tumblr blog run by doctors who say they are living in territories controlled by the Islamic State (ISIS) offers medical professionals intending to come to serve in the Islamic State medical advice and suggestions on what to bring, what to study, and other preparations. The blog was launched April 30, 2016; as of this writing, there have been seven entries. The blog is entirely in English, so it is apparent that the target audience comprises both Western medical professionals and Western civilians with medical questions who are interested in immigrating.
EXCLUSIVE: Swedish Widow In Idlib, Married To First British Jihadi Casualty In Syria, Active On Facebook
A Swedish woman active on Facebook, shares her experiences of life in Syria. She has posted on both the positive and negative aspects of living in Syria, such as appetizing foods, and scenes showing the harrowing aftermath of airstrikes. She has one daughter and is the widow of Ibrahim Al-Mazwagi, the first British casualty of the Syrian conflict, who died at age 21 in a battle against the Assad regime.
EXCLUSIVE: Islamic State Videos Disparage Saudi Religious Police, Promise To Take Over Saudi Arabia
A campaign recently launched by the Islamic State (ISIS) targets Saudi Arabia, challenging its claim to be an Islamic state guided by the laws of the shari'a. The campaign focuses on Saudi Arabia's religious police, which is presented as corrupt and as shirking its duty, in contrast to ISIS's religious police, which is presented as faithfully discharging its duty of encouraging virtue and preventing religious transgressions.
EXCLUSIVE: Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Emir Urges Uyghur Muslims To Join Jihad, Condemns Those Fighting Alongside ISIS
On June 24, 2016, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released an Arabic version of a video in which its leader, Sheikh 'Abd Al-Haq, urged Uyghur Muslims to join jihadi movements, condemned the Islamic State (ISIS) for its brutality against its opponents, and called on Uyghurs fighting in its ranks to desert and join "the truthful groups."
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In Video Marking Second Anniversary Of Caliphate Announcement, ISIS Touts Its Accomplishments, Says 'Hundreds' Of People Continue To Flock To Its Territory
On June 27, 2016, the Aleppo province of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video celebrating the second anniversary of its declaration of a caliphate state. Two years ago, on June 29, 2014, ISIS's spokesman announced the establishment of the caliphate and the appointment of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi as caliph.
French, Bosnian ISIS Fighters Urge Muslims In The U.S., San Francisco, Las Vegas, Canada, Australia, Europe To Carry Out Attacks
On June 26, 2016, the Islamic State's "Ninawa Province" released a 9-minute video titled "Most Beneficial to Us and Most Harmful to Them," celebrating the recent attack on the Pulse club in Orlando and the murder of a French police officer and his partner in a suburb of Paris. The video features two French ISIS operatives and one Bosnian, who praise the Orlando and Magnanville attackers and call upon Muslims in the West to follow their example. One of the French-speaking fighters also rails against homosexuals in justifying the Orlando attack. The other addresses the citizens of the U.S. and France, urging them to take to the streets to demand an end to their countries' attacks on ISIS, just as the Spanish people demanded to end their government's involvement in the Iraq war after the 2004 Madrid bombing.
New ISIS Video Shows Executions Of Syrian Journalists, Threatens Their Colleagues: 'Do Not Think That Being In Europe Will Protect You'
On June 25, 2016, the information office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Al-Khair Province, Syria, published a 15-minute video titled "Influenced by Satan." The video, which was also posted on the jihadi message board Shumoukh Al-Islam, shows the execution of five journalists from Deir Al-Zour, who were accused of sharing information with foreign intelligence services, human rights organizations, and TV networks in return for payment. The five executions take place separately, usually in the accused's houses, and feature a variety of methods, including booby-trapping their cameras or laptops and detonating them remotely, slitting their throats, or chocking them with a chain. The video features a warning to other journalists to not spy on ISIS and pass the information on to foreign elements, whether American, "crusader," or otherwise, or face death as well.
JTTM subscribers click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
ISIS Infographic Shows Its Areas Of Operation, Boasting Presence In France, Turkey, Many More Countries
On June 29, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) released an infographic marking the second anniversary of the declaration of the "Caliphate." The infographic, produced by the A'maq agency and showing the organization's areas of operation, was distributed on pro-ISIS Telegram channels.
New ISIS Video Shows Koran Recitation Class For Boys, Vows: Future Generation Will Conquer Rome
On June 29, the information office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Al-Raqqa province, Syria, published a 10-minute video titled "Guiding the People." The video, which was also posted on Telegram, documents an "intensive" Koran memorization course for young boys conducted by the province's Da'wa and Mosques Department.
Pro-ISIS Hacking Group Releases Kill List Targeting Canadians, Containing Over 12,000 Entries
On June 28, 2016 the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC), a pro-ISIS hacking group, released a kill list of Canadians on its Telegram channel, which contains over 12,000 entries. However, it should be noted that some of the entries are duplicates.
ISIS Urges Muslims To Kill Anyone Mocking Islam
In the last two issues, 35 and 36, of its weekly newspaper Al-Naba', the Islamic State (ISIS) published three articles urging Muslims around the world, especially those living in the West, to kill writers, journalists, actors, poets, cartoonists, singers, politicians, and anyone who mocks Islam, its Prophet and its rituals, as well those promoting the theory of evolution and belief in reincarnation. The articles were also posted on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram, as well as on the leading ISIS-affiliated online jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam. According to them, Muslims should shoot or behead anyone who mocks Islam, because this will deter others from doing so.
A'maq Agency: The June 21, 2016 Suicide Attack In Rukban, Jordan Was Carried Out By An ISIS Fighter
On June 27, 2016, the Islamic State's A'maq agency released a statement on the June 21, 2016 truck bomb attack on a Jordan military outpost in Rukban on the Syrian border. The statement said: "A source has told the A'maq agency [that] the suicide bombing which struck the American-Jordanian Rukban base in Jordan was carried out by one of the Islamic State's fighters."
Pro-ISIS Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal's Sermons Available For Purchase On Vimeo
Pro-ISIS Jamaican cleric Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal spent four years in a UK prison for murder and inciting hatred. A graduate of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia, he is said to have inspired several terrorists, among them shoe bomber Richard Reid, 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, London bombers Muhammad Sidique Khan and Germaine Lindsay, and Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmutullab.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Berri Warns: UNIFIL Is Under Threat
Following a series of bombings in the town of Al-Qaa in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri warned that, according to intelligence that has reached him, "terrorist groups" are planning attacks on UNIFIL forces in the south of the country. He said that the organization has been notified of the threats.
AQIM Launches Campaign In Support Of Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Militias In Benghazi
On June 26, 2016, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) launched a media campaign on the encrypted messaging app Telegram calling for support for Ansar Al-Shari'a and AQIM-affiliated militias in Benghazi, Libya. The campaign includes a series of images, audio messages by AQIM Shura Council member Abu Obeida Yussuf Al-'Anabi and Jabhat Al-Nusra cleric Sheikh Abdullah Al-Muhaysini, and a written statement by an Al-Qaeda fighter in Benghazi.
On June 30, 2016, Al-Murabitoun, a Jihadi group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, released an audio recording of its leader, former Egyptian special forces official Hisham Ashmawi aka Abu Omar Al-Muhajir Al-Masri, in which he urged Muslims to support the mujahideen in Benghazi by all means, including by praying during the "blessed" final ten days of Ramadan. The audio recording is titled "Lift the Siege on Benghazi," which is also a hashtag on Twitter, and features Ashmawi commending the mujahideen in Benghazi for putting their differences aside and focusing on fighting against their enemies.
