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.
The London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat recently republished an interview with Afghan war veteran and son-in-law of Abdallah ‘Azzam, 'Abdallah Anas that originally appeared in the political news journal Al-Majala, which is also owned by the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). Saudi Arabia is currently in the throes of a campaign to discourage participation by Saudi nationals in the Civil War in Syria and particularly in the ranks of Al-Qaeda affiliates. This campaign includes criminalization of the practice and the imposition of severe penalties. It has also included attacks in the official Saudi press against preachers who encourage young people to join the jihad in Syria. The Saudi Kingdom fears that its reputation will be tarnished by the extreme actions of its nationals and its domestic security could be imperiled by the jihadists' return from Syria to Saudi Arabia.
One of the main arguments brandished by supporters of jihad in Syria is the Afghan precedent. The 9 year war against the Soviet invasion is still considered a heroic Islamic victory. If that struggle was justified in the eyes of Saudi clerics, why isn't a religious war against what the fighters in Syria view as a murderous and tyrannical Bashar Al-Assad regime equally justified?
AQAP Calls For Reconciliation Among Mujahideen In Syria
On March 3, 2014, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a statement on jihadi forums calling upon the jihadi groups in Syria to cease their internal fighting and reconcile. AQAP clarified that it takes a uniform stance toward all groups, in what can be interpreted as a somewhat softer stance toward the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) than the one taken by Al-Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan-Pakistan.
AQAP Crucifies 'American Spy' (Graphic Image)
Source in Yemen have distributed photos of a man crucified by local Al-Qaeda operatives. The man was apparently accused of serving as a spy for the U.S.
On March 4, 2014, the Kurdish-Iraqi jihad group Ansar Al-Islam released a 30-minute promotion video showcasing its training camp. The video was posted on YouTube and publicized on the group’s official Twitter account.
The training camp is named after 'Abd Al-Rashid Ghazi, the cleric known from the "Red Mosque" affair in Islamabad.
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On March 4, Al-Basira, Jabhat Al-Nusra's media body, published an audio by Abu 'Abdallah Al-Shami, a member of the Shura Council and the organization's shari'a committee, titled Disclose [the truth, i.e. the truth about the ISIS] to People and Do Not Conceal It".
Al-Shami announced that Jabhat Al-Nusra had agreed to the call by Muslim religious scholars such as Abu Qatada Al-Filistini and Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi and decided to stop the total war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Nevertheless, Al-Shami maintained that the fight against the "State" in certain areas of Aleppo and Eastern Syria would not be halted as long as the State continued to attack JN in these regions.
Furthermore Al-Shami even urged the fighters in 'Idlib, Homs, Aleppo and Latakia to send manpower and other resources to reinforce the organization's fighting ISIS in Eastern Syria.
A video uploaded to YouTube on March 4, 2014 features a Franco-Tunisian mujahid originally from Grenoble, France who was killed in combat January 18 in Homs, Syria fighting with Jabhat Al Nusra (JN). In the video, he calls on his Muslim brothers around the world to join him on the front line, and glorifies martyrdom.
Bilel, 23, from a moderate Muslim Tunisian family, left France for Syria in July 2013. A BA student in economics who was also a volunteer fireman in his home town of Grenoble, he wanted to "aid the Syrian people," according to his sisters' testimony.
Gaza-Based Jihadis Call For Adopting ISIS, Taliban Jail Break Tactics
On March 6, 2014, the Gaza-based jihadi media outlet Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center (ITMC) published a communiqué advocating a shift to coordinated large-scale operations to free Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) jails.
The communiqué begins by dwelling on the plight of prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails, and condemns the Palestinian parties and movements for sufficing with lip service on their behalf. The ITMC said that the weak Palestinian handling of the issue only invites stepped-up Israeli aggression. At the very least, argued the communiqué, a new generation capable of independent action should be readied. ITMC advocated the following steps:
Abna-ul-Islam, a jihadi internet forum associated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), recently rejected the popular argument that there is "no terrorism in Islam" by citing a verse from the Koran and arguing that jihad is not terrorism.
The group joined social networking site Facebook on February 18, 2014. It is followed by 2,680 Facebook users as of March 4, 2014. The group also has a full-fledged website, which is used to release the statements of TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid and other Taliban leaders.
On Facebook, New Terror Group Ahrar-ul-Hind Vows Attacks In Urban Areas Of Pakistan
A Facebook post dated February 26, 2014
Ahrar-ul-Hind (AH), a militant group that claimed responsibility for the March 3 terror attack on a court in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, joined social networking site Facebook on February 24. In early February, it also dissociated itself from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) decision to hold peace negotiations with the Pakistani government.
Ahrar-ul-Hind (AH), a newly formed militant group about which little is known, has claimed responsibility for the March 3 attack on an Islamabad court, which occurred a day after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced a month-long ceasefire in Pakistan.
Excerpts are given below from a Pakistani media report that examines the history of Pakistan-based terror group Ansarul Mujahideen (AM) and its long-standing relationship with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), after AM claimed that it is not part of the TTP.
The relationship between the two groups is important because the Pakistani government is in the midst of peace talks with the TTP, which has announced a month-long ceasefire, yet several TTP affiliates are attacking Pakistani military targets notwithstanding the ceasefire, including a March 5 attack that killed six Pakistani soldiers.
An Indian media report criticizes lacunae in the indictment filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India in a Delhi court against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal. The Indian Mujahideen is a terror group believed to be operating on Indian mainland, with aid from Pakistan-based terror groups and Pakistani intelligence.
The indictment shows that the Indian Mujahideen leaders planned to develop networks in Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar) and possibly explored the feasibility of carrying out a nuclear attack in the town of Surat in India's Gujarat state, which witnessed anti-Muslim riots in 2002.
The Kalash people are believed to be descendants of the army of Alexander the Great (Source: Wondersofpakistan.wordpress.com)
After a recent spate of Taliban threats, a new jihadi FM radio station is now broadcasting threatening messages against the Ismaili and Kalash tribes based in the Chitral district of Pakistan, according to Pakistani media reports. It should be noted that the Taliban commanders are holding Greek aid worker Professor Athanasion Larounis, who was working among the Kalash people.
