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 Supporter Issues New Death Threat To Dutch Politician
On April 30, 2019, in a post on a closed Telegram channel, an Islamic State (ISIS) supporter urges Muslims in the Netherlands to assassinate Dutch politician Geert Wilders in response to a tweet on April 29, 2019.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Supporter: Churches Are Legitimate Targets
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On May 2, 2019, a supporter of the Islamic State (ISIS) posted an archival screenshot of a report saying that the Vatican endorses the use of force against ISIS.
In a sermon at a mosque in the town of Ahmadpur Sharqia in the Bahawalpur district of Pakistan, radical Islamic cleric Maulana Abu Bakr Siddiq said: "Jihad is a blessing for Muslims and death for polytheists."
Radical Islamic cleric Mufti Khabeebur Rehman Qazi delivered a weekly Friday sermon at a mosque in the town of Pakpatan in Pakistan's Punjab province, where he told worshippers: "The land washed with the blood of martyrs is never barren."
EXCLUSIVE: Al-Qaeda Ideologue Calls For Attacks On Russian Targets Worldwide
A veteran jihad operative and Al-Qaeda ideologue based in Syria wrote a post on his Telegram channel on May 1, 2019, urging attacks against Russian targets in Russia, Syria, and elsewhere.
On May 1, 2019, Syrian jihadi cleric Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Mahdi, on his Telegram channel, called on faction leaders and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to target the Russian Khmeimim Airbase to stop Russia from attacking and bombing rebel-controlled areas.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On April 29, 2019, Al-Furqan, one of the media arms of the Islamic State (ISIS), released a video featuring ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, calling on his fighters to carry out attacks against France, its allies, and Saudi Arabia. In the video, titled "In The Hospitality Of The Emir Of Believers," Al-Baghdadi urged the people of Algeria and Sudan to declare jihad against their governments, praised the attacks in Sri Lanka and also recognized a group of military commanders including foreigners and media officials.
ISIS Releases Photos Of Its Fighters Watching Recent Video Of ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
On May 1, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS)-affiliated Nasher News released photos showing ISIS fighters in Iraq and West Africa watching the recent video showing ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, which ISIS released on April 29. In a photo from Salah Al-Din, Iraq, several ISIS members watch the video on a laptop. A similar photo shows armed ISIS fighters in West Africa also watching the video on a computer. The video was Al-Baghdadi's first official appearance since July 2014, when he delivered a sermon in Mosul following ISIS appointing him as caliph.
Opponents Of ISIS Condemn Its Allusion To 'Turkey Province' As A Ploy To Weaken The Cause Of Jihad
Opponents of ISIS reacted with criticism to a scene in the April 29, 2019 video showing ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi for the first time in the past five years. They were incensed by the shot in which Al-Baghdadi peruses booklets about ISIS branches worldwide, including one marked "Turkey Province."
ISIS Supporters Threaten More Attacks In Bangladesh
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On April 30, 2019, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Mursalat media outlet published a poster on Telegram in Hindi, Bengali, and English threatening future attacks in India and Bangladesh.
ISIS Dissenter Criticizes Sri Lanka Attacks
The recent devastating bombing attacks in Sri Lanka for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility were mostly celebrated by the group's supporters online.
ISIS Claims Responsibility For Additional Sri Lanka Terrorist Attack
On April 27, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) A'maq news agency released a statement in which ISIS claims responsibility for a triple suicide attack on Sri Lankan police officers in the east coast city of Kalmunai.
Pro-ISIS Media Group Video Portrays Sri Lanka Attacks As Retribution For Attacks Against Muslims
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On April 25, 2019, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet Al-Abd Al-Faqir published a video titled "And It Will Not Be The Last Surprise," praising the April 21 Sri Lanka attacks and presenting them as retribution for attacks against Muslims everywhere.
Issue 179 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba', released online on April 25, 2019, highlighted the April 21 Sri Lanka attacks, which ISIS had previously claimed, praising its perpetrators and presenting it as a fulfillment of ISIS's threat to the "Crusaders."
ISIS West Africa Video Shows Beheading Of African Soldier, Threatens 'Crusaders'
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On April 25, 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS) A'maq news agency released a one-minute video showing the beheading of a member of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) who was captured in Nigeria.
ISIS Weekly Discloses The Organization's Guerilla Warfare Tactics
An official Islamic State (ISIS) weekly newspaper, published on April 25, 2019, contained the first installment in a series describing the tactics employed by ISIS during "phases of lack of power."
Pro-ISIS Hackers Continue To Deface Websites To Avenge New Zealand Attacks
A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) hacker group has published two lists of New Zealand websites it claims to have hacked and defaced in retaliation for the shootings at the mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.
Platform: Facebook
Platform: Facebook
On April 26, 2019, fighters based in Idlib, Syria, and the owners of a YouTube channel documenting the daily activities of the mujahideen in Syria, posted a video announcing that YouTube may suspend their channel soon and urging their fans to follow them on Telegram.
On April 25, 2019, Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a statement condemning the recent execution of a "group of fine imprisoned Sunni brothers" accused of committing terrorism-related crimes and vowing to avenge them.
On April 28, 2019, the 'Uqba Bin Nafi Brigade, the Tunisian branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), released a communique on Telegram in Arabic, French, and English, claiming responsibility for an April 26, 2019, roadside IED attack perpetrated with a tank mine on a Tunisian army KIRPI.
Al-Qaeda In Mali Claims Responsibility For Bloody Raid, Vows Ongoing Jihad Against 'French Crusade'
On April 23, 2019, Al-Zalaqa Foundation, the official media outlet of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), released communique number 116, in which GSIM claims responsibility for the April 21, 2019, raid on a Malian army base in west-central Mali.
On April 29, 2019, the Hidayah Media group, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a three-minute video accusing the Islamic State (ISIS) of targeting innocent Muslims in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda In The Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Eulogizes Prominent Algerian Opposition Leader
On April 29, 2019, Al-Andalus Foundation, the media arm of Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), released a statement mourning the death of Abbasi Madani. Madani, co-founder of the banned political party Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), passed away in Qatar on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
A Russian-speaking journalist operating in rebel-held areas of Idlib, Aleppo, and northern Hama, Syria, who traveled to Syria in 2016 after seeing the violence against Muslims there. He operates on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Telegram, and a personal blog
Pakistani Cleric To Congregation: 'Jihad Is The Shortest Route To Heaven'
Radical Islamic cleric Maulana Ilyas Qasmi told a mosque congregation in the Pakistani town of Mardan that "jihad is the shortest route to heaven."
UN Delegation Meets With Deputy Taliban Leader Mullah Baradar Akhund In Qatar
On April 25, 2019, a delegation led by Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), met with Mullah Baradar Akhund, the Deputy Emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization), in Doha, Qatar.
Afghan Taliban Statement Marks 1978 Protests Against Pro-Soviet Military Coup
On April 27, 2019, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) issued a statement to mark the Saur Revolution, when Afghans turned out in streets of Kabul in 1978 to protest a communist military coup, which would subsequently lead to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan
Taliban Dismiss Loya Jirga As 'Enemy Plot'; U.S.-Taliban Talks In Doha Have Not Progressed
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) has dismissed the four-day loya jirga, a grand assembly of Afghan elders and tribal chieftains, organized by the Afghan government to prepare a framework for negotiations with the Taliban.
