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August 11, 2016 JTTM Weekly No. 227

Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary

August 11, 2016
JTTM Weekly No. 227

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: Tunisian Fighter In Iraq Featured In Video Says He Lived In U.S. And Was Radicalized There Before Joining ISIS

 

On August 9, 2016, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Al-Anbar released a video featuring a Tunisian suicide bomber in Iraq claiming that he had joined ISIS after being radicalized while living in the U.S. In the video, titled "Fighting Will," the man, identified as Abu Muqatil Al-Tunisi, said that he had lived in the U.S. and left from there to to join ISIS.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Former Belgian Soldier, ISIS Fighter From Verviers Carries Out Suicide Attack In Iraq

 

Lofti Aoumeur, aka Abu Anuar Al-Belgiki, 25, from Verviers, Belgium, was featured in a series of photos published by official ISIS media in Dijlah province of Iraq, that were identified as showing him carrying out a VBIED suicide operation against an Iraqi army position. The operation was also reported on by the ISIS news agency Amaq, which claimed the attack destroyed eight vehicles. It should be noted that the series of photos do not constitute absolute proof of death.

 

Issue 3 Of Al-Qaeda-Affiliated English-Language Magazine 'Al-Risalah' Features Interview With British Al-Shabab Fighter

 

On August 1, 2016, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Global Islamic Media Group (GIMF) released the third issue of Al-Risalah, its English language magazine. It includes a three-page interview with an Al-Shabab fighter from London, titled "Bilad Al Hijraytan: Interview with Abu Bushra al Biritani - Mujahid from Al-Qaeda's Al Shabaab," in which the fighter discusses topics such as his motivations for waging jihad, how he was radicalized, how he reached Somalia, and what life for a fighter there is like. Abu Bushra ends the interview by threatening Western governments that fight Muslims.

 

Egyptian Hasam Movement Claims Responsibility For Attempt On Former Mufti's Life

On August 5, 2016, the Egyptian Hasam movement issued "military communiqué number 2," in which it claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt against Egyptian former mufti of 'Ali Gum'a on the same date.

 

ISIS Weekly Newsletter Celebrates Charleroi Attack

In the latest issue of its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', published August 9, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) celebrated the recent stabbing attack in Charleroi, Belgium, which, it said, came in response to ISIS's calls for attacks on Western civilians. 

 

ISIS: Charelroi Assailant 'A Soldier Of The Islamic State'

On August 7, 2016, the Islamic State's news agency A'maq published a notice adopting the saying that the assailant who attacked police officers in Charleroi, Belgium on August 6 was one of its men.

 

Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Fighter Says Group Ready To Defeat Assad And His Iranian And Russian Allies In Aleppo

 

On August 4, 2016, Sawt Al-Islam, the media arm of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), published a video on YouTube featuring one of the group's fighters announcing the start of battle to capture Aleppo and rescue its besieged residents. The fighter warned the Assad regime, its loyalist Shi'ite militias, as well as Iran and Russia, that the mujahideen love death as much as their own soldiers love life and wine.

 

TIP Fighters Heavily Involved In Aleppo Battles

 

Uyghur fighters of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) contingent in Syria (which now calls itself "The Turkestan Islamic Party for Supporting the People of Al-Sham") have been heavily involved in the recent battles in the city of Aleppo and in the rebels' effort to break the siege of the pro-Assad forces. This is evident from several statements issued by TIP since July 31, which presented details of its operations in the area and photos of its members participating in the fighting. According to these statements, published on TIP's Telegram channel, TIP fighters took part in artillery, mortar and rocket attacks on Syrian army positions and in storming the pro-Assad forces. The photos showed weapons and ammunition seized by its fighters and the bodies of Syrian soldiers they killed.

 

Issue 3 Of Al-Qaeda-Affiliated English-Language Magazine 'Al-Risalah' Eulogizes British Fighter Who Was Its Onetime Editor

 

On August 1, 2016, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Global Islamic Media Group (GIMF) released the third issue of Al-Risalah, its English language magazine. One article in it, titled "Everlasting Reward," is devoted to the late British Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) fighter Abu Baseer Al-Biritani, aka Abu Baseer Al-Hindi (the latter alias referring to his Indian origins), praising his bravery, intelligence, piety, and devotion to jihad.

 

Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Launches New Channel On Telegram

 

On August 2, 2016, Sawt Al-Islam, the media arm of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), launched a new channel on Telegram covering the activities of the group's branch in Syria. The channel currently has nearly 3,000 followers, and is used by the Al-Qaeda affiliated group to post pictures and videos documenting its ongoing fighting against the Assad regime and its allies in Syria.

 

Pro-ISIS Channel On Telegram Warns ISIS Supporters To Avoid WhatsApp

 

On August 11, 2016, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel "Nasher Grpahics" posted a message to ISIS supporters, warning them not avoid joining groups on the messaging service WhatsApp claiming to be pro-ISIS.

The post reads: "We warn you against using WhatsApp, especially the brothers in European countries and the Gulf states, because it is an app that is heavily monitored and exposes the brothers to danger."

 

Jihadi Writer Warns ISIS Supporters To Not Limit Their Activities To Telegram, Urges Them To Use Facebook, Twitter

 

A recent article published by Al-Battar, a media company affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), warned the group's supporters who are active on social media to not limit their activities to Telegram and encouraged them to return to Facebook and Twitter, as they are the most popular social media platforms.

 

Indian Website Compiles Snapshots From Jihadi Blog In Malayalam Language

 

Following are excerpts from an Indian website report that compiled snapshots from a Malayalam-language jihadi blog:

"26-year-old Ashfaq from [the southern Indian state] Kerala's Kasargod [district], a hotel owner, was one among the 21 people who went missing from the state in June 2016. Even as security agencies like the NIA [National Investigating Agency of India] were trying to find out to which country Ashfaq and the others had fled, Ashfaq has sent a message to his family more than a month after his disappearance."

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