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: Saudi Al-Qaeda Operative Tweeting From Waziristan
'Abd Al-Muhsin Al-Sharikh, a Saudi national who appears on the Saudi government's list of 85 most wanted terrorists, has recently been active on Twitter. In 2009, the Saudi Interior Ministry described Al-Sharikh (born 1985) as an Al-Qaeda operative who had planned terror attacks in the kingdom and had ties with senior Al-Qaeda operative Saleh Al-Qar'awi and others. According to the ministry, his last known whereabouts is Iran, but from his Twitter account, it appears that he is now in Waziristan, or at least has contacts with Al-Qaeda elements there.
Message On Al-Qaeda Forum Calls To Kidnap Americans Without Delay
An October 16, 2013 message on Al-Qaeda's internet forum Al-Fida, by a forum member calling himself Nasir Al-Qaeda ("Al-Qaeda Supporter"), calls on Muslims to hurry up and kidnap American nationals without consulting anyone or waiting for a fatwa, because the U.S. abducts mujahideen right out of their homes and should be given a taste of its own medicine.
According to a Kannada-language Indian newspaper, Yasin Bhatkal, the founder of Pakistan-backed terror group Indian Mujahideen who was arrested last August from India-Nepal border, has revealed that Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) trained them in spreading communicable diseases in India.
Urdu Daily: Pakistani National Planned Mumbai-Type Attack On London
According to an Urdu-language daily, a Pakistani national from Karachi is among four terror suspects being questioned by British authorities for planning an attack in London.
In a report from London, the Pakistani newspaper Roznama Jang reported that these suspects were under surveillance for some time and were detained at a flat in West London. Among those detained is Naved Baloch, who is a British of Pakistani descent, the report noted.
Jihadi Writer Responds To Allegations Regarding 9/11 Attacks
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On the 12th anniversary of Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, Abu Nusaiba Al-Maqdisi, a jihadi writer about whom little is known, wrote a 39-page article titled "A Reexamination of the Allegations about the Raids on 9/11" in which he responded to different types of claims raised by various groups regarding the attacks.
In his article, which was published by the independent jihadi media foundation Fursan Al-Balagh and posted on the leading jihadi forum Al-Fida, Al-Maqdisi provided his counterarguments to those who still doubt that Al-Qaeda was behind 9/11, those who disagree with the targeting of civilians, and those who consider the hijackers to be suicides, not martyrs. He also responded to those claiming that the attacks have had negative repercussions for Muslims in the U.S and made Americans hate Islam, and concluded by enumerating the advantages that Muslims have gained from 9/11.
Jihadi Blog Publishes Do's And Don'ts For Mujahideen Dealing With Drone Attacks
A jihadi blog published an article with advice and recommendations for mujahideen dealing with drone attacks. The article includes an explanation on the enemy's use of electronic chips for homing in on jihadi targets, a warning against collaborators with the enemy who plant these chips at select target locations, and recommendations regarding what to do when a drone hovers over the target area and in the event of an actual drone strike. The article is accompanied by images and videos about drones.
Al-Qaeda's Drone Project At Pakistani Professor's House In Islamabad Busted
In a joint operation, the police and intelligence agencies of Pakistan have busted a drone project being developed by Al-Qaeda's Pakistan chapter, according to a Pakistani daily. The Al-Qaeda project was being carried out at the house of a former Pakistani air force official.
"Yes, the Al-Qaeda Pakistan chapter had acquired drone technology and was in the final stages of implementing the plan when intercepted," a Pakistani newspaper quoted an unidentified official as saying. The project, aimed at countering the U.S. drones, was being developed in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital."
ISIS Kosovan Fighter Exhorts Muslims To Join Jihad In Syria
A man identified as Abu 'Abdallah Al-Kosovi ("the Kosovan"), has recently appeared in a video production of the Al-I'tisam media company – an Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) media company, where he called upon Muslims to join the jihad in Syria.
Abu 'Abdallah
New ISIS Film Shows Community Of Kazakh Fighters Living In Syria
On October 15, 2013 ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) published the tenth part of a series of videos titled "Letters from the Land of Battles," featuring a community of fighters from Kazakhstan. The 19- minute video shows dozens of fighters from Kazakhstan living with their children in a large villa apparently located in a rebel-held region of northern Syria. Given the presence of so many children, including infants, it is likely that women are also living there, although they do not appear in the film. The film provides further evidence of Syria's transformation into a destination for jihadis from across the world.
Kazakh jihad fighters in the entrance to the villa
Ansar Al-Islam Suspends Ceasefire With ISIS
In an October 12, 2013 open letter to the leadership of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the leadership of the Kurdish Salafi-jihadi group Ansar Al-Islam (AI) announced that the ceasefire between the two groups was suspended. The group published the letter on its Twitter account, presumably because Al-Qaeda's media company, Al-Fajr, has stopped distributing its publications, thus denying it access to the regular channels of distribution via jihadi forums.
In a statement issued on the occasion of Eid al-Adha (the feast of sacrifice), Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar urges Muslims to continue jihad against the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and warns against unauthorized persons holding peace negotiations.
"We have mandated the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate to maintain contacts with the world. If someone, anywhere, intends to open an office under the name of the Islamic Emirate, they will not represent the Islamic Emirate," says Mullah Omar, who heads the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban's so-called shadow government).
Following are excerpts from the statement:
"The auspicious and magnificent congregation of Hajj pilgrimage teaches us to throw away... the misinformation [campaign] of the enemies, any diabolical perceptions, baseless skepticism, tribal, lingual, geographical, ethnical, religious and other prejudices from our mind... Let's hold fast to Islam and seek the path of a real rescue on the basis of the instructions of Islam."
