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: ISIS Claims It Wounded U.S. Soldier In Attack In Afghanistan
On April 6, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Afghanistan province claimed responsibility for a commando-style attack against an Afghan army post in Shadal Achin, Nangarhar, Afghanistan.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Steps Up Operations In Afghanistan-Pakistan
In recent months the Islamic State (ISIS) branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which calls itself Wilayat Khurasan – the Khurasan province – has stepped up its activities and attacks against its enemies: U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the Afghan government, the Pakistani government, and the Taliban. This escalation comes as ISIS is suffering territorial losses in its core regions of control in the Middle East, and is therefore looking to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as a theatre to expand its reach as its control wanes in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
A truck driver from Aurora, Colorado, is part of a vast pro-ISIS community on Facebook.
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies.
Platform: Facebook, Instagram
Type of account: ISIS supporter
Statistics: 3,458 followers on Instagram.
EXCLUSIVE: New ISIS Video Calls For Attacks On American And Western Soldiers And Civilians In Jordan
On April 5, 2017, the information office for ISIS in Al-Furat province in Western Iraq published a 21-minute video titled "Be Aware of What Will Harm You." The video calls on Muslims in Jordan to target the regime, the royal family, and security apparatuses, and also to attack Americans and Westerners staying in the country.
On April 1, 2017, the Islamic State in Sinai posted a photo report documenting the activity of its "security center" in the province.
On April 6, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered 59 Tomahawk missiles to strike Syria's Shayrat Airfield, the base thought to have been used by warplanes that had carried out a deadly chemical attack in Idlib two days previously. There have been mixed reactions on social media platforms; however, many question President's Trump motives and speculate that perhaps this show of force was only carried out to distract attention from his poor approval ratings and the problems that are plaguing his administration.
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On March 26, 2017, a telegram channel, which has since been taken down, posted the first picture of Hay'at Muhajiri Ahl Al-Sunnah Fi Iran - the Sunni Foreign Fighter movement in Iran, whose fighters are affiliated with Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham and who are taking part in the northern Hamma countryside.
On April 2, 2017, a group of four unidentified European women who joined Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria posted undated pictures of themselves holding their passports and a sign stating: "If insulting our prophet is permissible by your freedom of speech, then know that your blood is thus permissible by my religion."
On April 3, 2017, Al-Malahem, the media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released an audio recording featuring one of the group's senior commanders and prominent figures, Khaled Batarfi, accusing the Trump administration of continuing the war against Islam and Muslims, and calling on Muslim scholars and preachers to incite Muslims to wage jihad.
On April 4, 2017, the ISIS media foundation Al-Furqan released an audio recording featuring the group's spokesman, Abu Al-Hassan Al-Muhajir, calling for attacks in the U.S., Russia, Europe and Saudi Arabia. In the 36-minute recording, which is titled "So (endure) patiently; surely the promise of Allah is true" and was posted on the leading ISIS-affiliated online jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, Al-Muhajir also acknowledged the current challenges facing ISIS and encouraged ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria to remain steadfast, and the group's branches in other countries to continue carrying out attacks against "the infidels and the apostates."
Pro-ISIS Hacker Group United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) Releases Kill List Of Americans
On April 3, 2017, the pro-Islamic state (ISIS) hacker group United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) released a six-minute video highlighting a kill list of 200 U.S. individuals. The video was posted on YouTube and links to it were distributed on Telegram.
Following the April 4, 2017 chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria, in which at least 72 people died, among them 20 children and 17 women, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) issued a communique titled "Chemical Massacre in Khan Shaykhun".
On April 2, 2017, the information office for ISIS in Al-Janub province in Iraq published a 12-minute video titled "Plotting of Evil," in which ISIS warns Iraqi Sunnis against collaborating with the Iraqi government, and threatens to continue targeting Shi'ites.
ISIS Releases Photo Of 'Frenchman' Who Carried Out Martyrdom Operation Against PKK Forces In Raqqah
On April 5, 2017, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Raqqah Province released a photo of a fighter named Abu Anas who was described as "the Frenchman."
ISIS Supporters Rejoice Over St. Petersburg Bombing
Islamists on social media, and especially supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS), responded to the April 3, 2017 bombing in St. Petersburg with posts expressing satisfaction. Many shared photos and videos from the scene of the bombing and posted updates about it, adding "Allah akbar," and others described the attack as justified retaliation for Russia's actions in Syria.
Jihadis In Syria Are Dropping Leaflets From Drones As Part Of Psychological Operations
Two videos published in the last week by the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) the news agency "Ibaa" show jihadi drones dropping leaflets on civilian and enemy positions as part of psychological warfare.
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies.
Platform: Instagram
Type of account: ISIS supporter
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies.
Platform: Facebook
Type of account: ISIS supporter
Dutch ISIS Fighter Shares Photo Of Young Algerian 'Caliphate Cub' On Facebook
On April 3, 2017, a Dutch ISIS fighter on Facebook posted several photos of himself alongside a young Algerian "caliphate cub" who came to Syria with his father.
The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies.
Platform: Facebook, Instagram
Type of account: ISIS supporter
Issue 45 of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated weekly Al-Masra, released online on April 3, 2017, featured an article highlighting a recent series of anti-Muslim measures taken by China against the ethnic Muslim Uyghur population in the Xinxiang Autonomous Region (East Turkestan) in the western part of the country.
On April 1, 2017, the Syrian branch of the Uyghur jihadi organization Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released part 30 in its "A Call from the Frontlines of Jihad" video series.
After Reporting It Was Hacked, ISIS News Agency Website Is Back Online
The Islamic State (ISIS) news agency A'maq website is back online under a new domain name, after its previous website was hacked last week.
