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April 22, 2017 JTTM Weekly No. 273

Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary

April 22, 2017
JTTM Weekly No. 273

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 Authorities Launch Investigation After Students Praise Osama Bin Laden, 9/11 Attacks During High School Celebrations

On April 19, 2017, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that the Tunisian Ministry of Education launched an investigation after controversial banners allegedly praising late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks were raised during Tunisia's annual Baccalaureate sports celebrations.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Iyadh Ag Ghali, Leader Of Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (GSIM), The New Al-Qaeda Affiliate In Mali: 'France Is Our [First] Enemy'

Issue 45 of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Masra weekly newspaper, published April 3, 2017, included a full-page interview with Abu Al-Fadl Iyadh Ag Ghali, leader of the newly formed Mali-based Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen – The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

 

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS News Agency, A'maq, Denies Casualties From U.S. Bombing In Afghanistan; ISIS Supporters Call For Attacks Against U.S., 'Unbelievers,' And 'Crusaders'

On April 13, 2017, the U.S struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan with a GBU-43B Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb – the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal. The strike reportedly killed 36 ISIS militants, a report denied by the official ISIS news agency A'maq the following day. Additionally, pro-ISIS telegram channels distributing A'maq's claim threatened revenge for the bombing.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Guide For English-Language 'Literature Used In Official Islamic State Media' Circulated On Telegram

On April 10, 2017, a nine-page PDF document titled "Islamic State Media English Team Literary Guide" was circulated on several pro-ISIS Telegram channels.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Al-Shabab Warns Somali Teachers And Educational Institutions To Stop Spreading Western Teachings

On April 19, 2017, Shahada News Agency, which is affiliated with the Somali jihadi group Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, reported that the group warned teachers and schools in Somalia to stop spreading Western ideas, or else they would be targeted.

 

ISIS Claims Responsibility For Champs-Élysées Terrorist Attack, Identifies Attacker As Belgian 'Abu Yousef Al-Baljiki'

The official Islamic State (ISIS) news agency A'maq has claimed responsibility for the April 20 terrorist attack on Champs-Élysées, Paris, which left one police officer dead and two others wounded. The attacker was also killed by security forces.

 

ISIS Urges Jihadis To Come To Yemen, Threatens To Attacks Shi'ites Everywhere, Calls On 'Monotheists' To Carry Attacks In Saudi Arabia

On April 14, 2017, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Al-Bayda' province in Yemen released a video accusing the Houthis of polytheism, threatened to target them everywhere, calling on jihadis to come to Yemen, and urging "monotheists" living in Saudi Arabia to carry out attacks against Saudi scholars, security officials and media professionals.

 

ISIS' Al-Hayat Media Releases New Song Urging Turks To Migrate To 'The Land Of The Caliphate'

On April 20, 2017, Al-Hayat media center, one of ISIS's leading media arms, released a video clip of a nasheed (Islamic song) in Turkish with English subtitles urging the Turkish people to leave their country and migrate to the Islamic State.

 

Veteran French ISIS Operative Allegedly Killed In U.S. Drone Strike

On April 4, 2017, an Islamic state (ISIS) French-language media operative active on Twitter and Telegram shared information pertaining to the death of a French ISIS operative, and was among the earliest French recruits to ISIS.

 

Islamic State-Affiliate Banner Mocks MOAB Strike In Afghanistan

The banner, published by the Nashir News Agency – at top: the Islamic State in Sinai Province claims responsibility for the downing of the Russian plane in October 2015, next to image of cheap explosive soda can; at center: MOAB, with upside-down writing in Arabic, and the Amaq News Agency denial that the bombing had hit any of the organization's members; at bottom: technical specifications of MOAB and its astronomical cost

Islamic State affiliates continue to respond to the April 13 American MOAB attack on the organization's tunnel complex in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, saying that despite its massive power, it had failed to cause any fatalities. On April 15, the Nashir News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State, published a banner mocking the Americans, claiming that the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, which, it said, cost millions of dollars, did not kill any Islamic State members, whereas a small soda can, converted into an explosive at a negligent cost, managed to blow up a Russian airplane in 2015, killing hundreds.

 

ISIS Aleppo Video Denounces Turkey's 'Crimes' In Al-Bab, Urges Fighters To Remain Steadfast In Face Of Setbacks

On April 16, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Aleppo Province released a 20-minute video that denounces Turkey's "crimes" against civilians in and around of Al-Bab in the northeastern countryside of the province. They video also attempts to justify ISIS's defeat there after Turkish-backed rebels recently seized control of the city and neighboring villages.

 

ISIS Kirkuk Province Releases Video Showing Well-Equipped Snipers Shooting Iraqi and Kurdish Soldiers

On April 7, 2017, the media office of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Kirkuk province released a video showing well-equipped snipers shooting Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers. The video, which is titled "Arrows of the Monotheists" and was posted on leading ISIS-affiliated online jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, also featured a masked ISIS fighter instructing snipers to shoot their targets in deadly spots such as the head, the neck and the heart in order to kill them.

 

Pro-ISIS Female Hacking Group 'Al Khansaa Kateeba' Releases Video On Telegram

On April 18, 2017, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) female hacking group Al Khansaa Kateeba released its first video, in which it delivered a message and showed off its hacking prowess on Twitter. The group claimed to have hacked over 100 Twitter accounts in March. The group is affiliated with the most well-known pro-ISIS hacking group, the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC).

 

Pro-ISIS Media Outlet Lashes Out At Al-Qaeda's New Affiliate In The Sahel

On March 19, 2017, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Wafaa media outlet published an article written by an ISIS supporter named Abu al-Baraa' bin Malek AKA "the Caliphate's Servant" attacking the recently-formed Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel – Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen or "The Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims" (GSIM).

 

Jihadi Social Media Account Review - (JSM-AR): Pro-Jihad Pennsylvania Man Active On Facebook

The following information is based on a general overview of a social media account demonstrating terror-related activity / sympathies.

Platform: Facebook

Type of account: Jihad supporter

Additional Information: According to his Facebook account, he is originally from Pittsburgh.

 

Jihadi Social Media-Account Review (JSM-AR) U.K. Man Professes Love For Islamic State On Facebook

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

Additional Information: According to his Facebook account, he is originally from Birmingham, and currently resides in the City of Sunderland, England.

 

Taliban Rejects Claim That The Group Receives Assistance From Russia

On April 14, 2017, the Taliban published a statement titled "Claims of Russian Assistance towards the Mujahideen are Baseless" on its English-language website, which attempted to refute reports that Russia was assisting the group. The Taliban asserts that it has not received aid from any foreign source over the past 16 years, but adds that it seeks "to develop cordial relations with all its neighbors and regional powers."

Following is the text of the statement:


"For some time now certain circles, through the media have been propagating the claim that the Russian government is providing material support to the Taliban. The Islamic Emirate strenuously rejects such claims. The Islamic Emirate has not receive [sic] any form of military or logistical support from Russia. The Islamic Emirate has proven over the past 16 years that with the assistance of Almighty Allah and the full support of its nation, it can successfully engage and resist the foreign occupation."

 

Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Part 19 Of Its 'Lovers Of Paradise' Video Series

On April 16, 2017 the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) in Syria released a 46-minute video eulogy of one its prominent religious leaders. The video is part 19 in the series produced by "Voice of Islam" – the media wing of the TIP. The video, which is nearly entirely in the Uyghur language and includes a montage of archival footage, was released on official TIP telegram channels.

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