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: Report: U.S. Drones And American Officers Are Present In Tunisia
On February 18, 2014, the news website raialyoum.com reported that the former director of Tunisian military intelligence, Brigadier Moussa Elkhalfi, confirmed the presence of U.S. drones and American officers in southeast Tunisia.
The report, citing an Elkhalfi interview with the radio station Shams FM, said that the U.S. provided Tunisia with drones in order to "monitor the terrorists." Elkhalfi added that American officers are the ones currently operating these drones since they require advanced technical knowledge to operate.
ISIS Supporters Upload Video Of Children With Rifles Swearing Loyalty To ISIS
On February 19, 2014, online supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) uploaded a video featuring two masked children who swear loyalty to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The children, who seem to be under six years old, hold rifles and cock them during the film.
The following are images from the clip:
(See also MEMRI report Al-Qaeda And Its Offshoots Train And Indoctrinate Newborns, Toddlers, And Preschoolers – Captured On Twitter.)
ISIS Reportedly Testing Radio Broadcasts Of Religious Lessons, Group Statements, In Al-Raqqa
On February 18, 2014, a twitter account reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) began radio broadcasts of religious lessons and statements by ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, in the Syrian town of Al-Raqqa.
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Report: Jordan Preventing The Return From Syria Of Salafi-Jihadi Fighters
The Jordanian government is preventing the return from Syria of Salafi-jihadi movement fighters.
British Jihadi Abu Layth Killed In Syria
Abu Layth Al-Khorasani, a British jihadi fighting in Syria as part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) was killed on February 3 in a battle with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The death was confirmed on Twitter by a fellow jihadi, Abu Hafs, on February 3:
The Jihadi forum Al Fida'a published a February 17, 2014 communiqué from the Sinai based jihad organization Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, in which the organization claimed responsibility for bombing a Korean tourist bus at the Taba terminal the previous day.
Somali Shabab Al-Mujahideen Members Sing Of Beheading Leading Kenyan Politicians
Somali Shabab Al-Mujahideen members sing about beheading Kenyan politicians in a video posted to the Internet on February 13, 2014.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
A February 5, 2014 post on the Al-Fida' forum discussed some of the challenges facing the jihadi media field, namely the operation of its various media companies.
Anonymous Caucasus Announces New Attack On Russian Websites
On February 18, 2014, a group of hackers which calls itself Anonymous Caucasus, the Electronic Army of Caucasus announced that it carried out a new wave of attacks on Russian websites connected to the Olympic games.
Omar Khorasani (left) appears alongside former TTP spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) has released a video statement claiming that they killed 23 Pakistani troops in revenge for the killing of Taliban fighters by Pakistani security forces.
The 1:54-minute video was released by the TTP's Mohmand district chapter. In the video, Omar Khorasani, a Taliban commander, accepts responsibility for the soldiers' killings. Omar Khorasani is personal assistant to Omar Khalid Khorasani (see the image below), who is the emir of the TTP's Mohmand district chapter.
The London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported on February 15, 2014 that, during the February 13 raid on the Sana'a Central Prison, 29 prisoners escaped, 21 of them members of Al-Qaeda. The escapees include death row prisoners, explosives experts and terrorists suspected of planning the assassination of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The daily cited the Yemeni authorities as saying that 10 people died in the raid: seven guards, one policemen and two civilians; it is unknown whether the attackers sustained any losses. The article also notes that Al-Qaeda commander in Yemen Nasir Al-Wuhaishi, who escaped from this prison himself in 2006, threatened in the past to spring his men from there.
