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.
Fajr Al-Basha'ir on the Google Play webpage
A pro-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) app that was designed for use on Android machines has recently become available. The app, named "Fajr Al-Basha'ir" (Dawn of Glad Tidings), can be found on the Google Play webpage. According to the app's description on Google Play, it delivers "the latest news and events in Syria, Iraq, and the Muslim world." The app however, according to those behind its release and promotion, has an entirely different goal, which "aims to support the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria by monitoring its entire field and media activities, and [by] publishing everything that relates to supporting it and defending it."
ISIS Spokesman: 'Al-Qaeda Is No Longer The Base Of Jihad'
ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani
On April 17, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) media company Al-Furqan released a new audio message from the organization's spokesman, Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani, titled "This was not our methodology, and it never will be." In the 17-minute message, Al-'Adnani assailed Al-Qaeda's leadership, accusing it of straying from the proper path of jihad and from the proper religious and ideological doctrine. Due its deviance, he stated, "Al-Qaeda is no longer the base of jihad."
On April 18, 2014, a two-part audio-recorded interview with Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri was released online. The release, rather than being done through Al-Qaeda's usual trusted channels of being given to a top-tier forum by Al-Qaeda's media company Al-Sahab, appeared first on a Twitter account, which is a pro-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda account that had recently released another leaked message by American Al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn. The release also comes only several hours after ISIS released a message harshly criticizing Al-Qaeda's leadership and declaring that Al-Qaeda was "no longer the base of jihad."
Al-Zawahiri's interview, titled "The Reality Between Pain and Hope," was released in two parts, 53:56 and 28:45 in duration, respectively. It appears to have been conducted by telephone or other long-range audio communication, rather than the usual arrangement for Al-Zawahiri of an in-person interview. In it, Al-Zawahiri answers a series of questions that are presented to him by a representative from Al-Qaeda media wing Al-Sahab.
AQAP Claims Responsibility For Attack On Alleged Drone Command Center
On April 21, 2014, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) published a communiqué claiming responsibility for the April 2, 2014 attack on Yemeni military headquarters in Aden. AQAP claimed that the targeted site functions as a joint U.S.-Yemeni operations room for conducting drone strikes.
The communiqué read: "In pursuit of mujahideen operations designed to repel the aggression by America and its San'a regime ally against the Muslims' lives and honor in Yemen… that finds expression in the barbaric attacks [performed] by remote-controlled American aircraft, on the morning of [April 2, 2014] a group of righteous mujahideen set out to attack the Aden headquarters of the fourth region of the collaborator San'a army."
Images Of Gazan ISIS Members Training In Syria Posted On Twitter
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On April 17, 2014, images of Gazan fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who were training in Syria, were posted on Twitter. The fighters are members of the Sheikh Abu Al-Nour Al-Maqdisi Company. The Twitter account, which tweeted the images, has, as of this writing, 2,338 followers and 98 Tweets.
Arab fighters in Waziristan (image courtesy: unknown)
According to a Pakistani media report, jihadi fighters moving from the Pakistani tribal region to fight in Syria have been arrested on their way by Iranian authorities.
The migration to Syria seems to be partly for jihad and partly as a result of the TTP's peace negotiations with the Pakistani government, which has caused anxiety among the Arab and other non-Pakistani jihadis based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATAs) of Pakistan.
A member of the Shura (executive council) of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) disclosed that about 8,000 jihadi fighters, mostly non-Pakistanis, have already shifted to Syria.
Journalist Hasan Abdullah, who interviewed scores of foreign militants in and around Miranshah (the main town in North Waziristan), said in his report that he interviewed militants from various groups and "some of the most wanted fugitives" in Pakistan.
Through one of its active accounts on Twitter, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has sought to justify the April 19 attack on prominent Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, who once interviewed slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has been recently critical of Pakistan's intelligence services for their assault on human rights.
The attack is suspected to have been carried out by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistani military. Hamid Mir, who was wounded in the attack, has been a vocal critic of the ISI's policy of support for terrorist groups as well as its role in the unending abductions and killings of Baluchi political activists fighting for the independence of Baluchistan.
Hamid Mir's brother Amir Mir told the Geo News television channel that Hamid had informed him of a secret plan by ISI chief Lt.-Gen. Zaheerul Islam to assassinate him, according to a report on the website of The News daily. ISI is known for carrying out such targeted attacks through its own intelligence agents or militant groups nurtured by it over the years.
Taliban Account On Twitter Threatens Prominent Liberal Pakistani Leaders And Writers
A Taliban Twitter account has issued threats against a number of prominent Pakistani journalists and political leaders, including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of slain Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Zardari.
In a new video interview with a local Pakistani journalist conducted somewhere in Pakistan's tribal region, Shahidullah Shahid, the spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), accuses Pakistani journalists of propagating secularism in Pakistan.
The TTP spokesman is asked how the Taliban view media and journalism in Pakistan and what had forced them to issue their 2012 fatwa that approved death for Pakistani journalists. Shahidullah Shahid says: "I will first speak about the fatwa. The fatwa classified [different categories of] journalists. All journalists have not been targeted as per the fatwa. I will not go into details as they are already available in the fatwa."
Report: Afghan Taliban Kill Islamic Cleric For Anti-Taliban Comments On Facebook
The Afghan Taliban claimed they have killed a cleric in Afghanistan's western Herat province for writing against them on Facebook and other social networking forums.
"A responsible official of the Islamic Emirate [the umbrella organization of the Afghan Taliban] reports from Herat City that the mujahideen punished the spokesman of the Darbari clerics shura, Mir Farooq Hussaini, in an ambush in Baraman area, on the outskirts of Herat City at 7:00pm yesterday [April 14]," says a report posted on the Voice of Jihad, the Afghan Taliban's official website."
The following are excerpts from an interview of Zabihullah Mujahid, the official spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban's umbrella organization), in which he argues that the Taliban will continue to wage jihad against the new government that will assume power following the April 5 election.
In the interview, Zabihullah Mujahid refers to the April 5 presidential elections as a "selection" through which the U.S. and Western powers install their leaders in Kabul.
The interview was published on the official website of the Islamic Emirate.
"Inside An Islamic Country, The Legitimacy And Illegitimacy Of A Leader Is Associated With The Fulfillment Of Islamic Sharia Decrees And Not With A Counterfeit And Ostentatious Imported Process [Of Elections]"
Question: "What is your message to the forthcoming president of Afghanistan?"
Answer: "We are not going to recognize any other president [other than Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar] for Afghanistan in the presence of the Islamic Emirate. Our simple message to all those figures who have entered the scene concurrently with the American occupation that they should realize their responsibilities in the light of their Islamic, historical, and national obligations, and should refrain from supporting the foreign occupying forces. They should admit the ground realities and should respect the Islamic decrees. They should abandon opposing jihad and Islamic resistance against the foreign infidels…"
Ajnad Misr Takes Responsibility For Killing Egyptian Officer With 'Sticky Bomb'
On April 23, 2014, the Ajnad Misr group released a statement taking responsibility for the killing of Brig. Gen. Ahmad Zaki, who was killed earlier today, in the 6th of October suburb in Cairo.
