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February 15, 2020 Special Announcements No. 873

Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary: Week of February 8-15, 2020

February 15, 2020
Special Announcements No. 873

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: Pakistani Daily: Afghan Taliban's Haqqani Network Kidnaps CIA Officer In Afghanistan

According to a pro-Taliban Pakistani daily the Haqqani Network – militarily the most important faction within the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) – has kidnapped a CIA officer after following his movements over a period of three months.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Death Of ISIS Media Operative Sheds Light On Group’s Nexus Of Media And Intelligence

The following report, which examines the activities of a prominent Syrian Islamic State (ISIS) operative over a period of eight years, provides insight into the group's media and propaganda apparatus and its close relationship to the covert ISIS security-intelligence apparatus.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Threats To Dutch Blogger From ISIS Platform

In a February 7, 2020, conversation on a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Rocket.Chat channel, members threatened a Dutch blogger, who reported the perpetrator of the February 2, 2020, attack in London's Streatham suburb, Sudesh Amman, to British authorities in 2018.


EXCLUSIVE: On Social Media, Controversial Pro-ISIS Australian Preacher Leads Repatriation Movement For Australians In Al-Hol Camp, Syria: 'The Australian Government Has Rushed To Saved Australian Children In China But Have Turned Their Backs On Muslim Australians In Al Hol'

Pro-ISIS Australian preacher and activist is spearheading an online campaign for the repatriation of Australian nationals detained in Al-Hol camp in northern Syria. The camp holds over 70,000 women and children, many of whom are ISIS widows and orphans.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Al-Shabab-Affiliated Shahada News Agency: Al-Shabab Fighters Attacked Chinese Company Site Near U.S. Naval Base

On February 10, a news agency claimed that the movement's fighters had carried out an attack against two Chinese engineers, and the Kenyan forces that were guarding them, in the Milihoi region near the U.S. base Camp Simba, located in Manda Bay in the coastal province of Lamu in Kenya.

 

After Escaping Pakistani Custody, Former Pakistani Taliban Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan Records Audio Message Vowing To Expose Pakistani Army And Intelligence

In an audio recording shared via Twitter. the former spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban,) has confirmed that he has escaped after being detained by the Pakistani government.

 

Former Pakistani Taliban Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan Lands In Turkey After Escaping Pakistani Custody, Launches Twitter Account

On February 6, 2020, Ehsanullah Ehsan – the former spokesman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) who also served as spokesman for TTP's breakaway faction Jamaatul Ahrar Pakistan – announced that he is no longer held in custody of Pakistani intelligence agencies.

 

AQIM Condemns Trump Deal, Calls For Global War Against Jews, States: All U.S. Bases And Economic Interests Are Legitimate Targets

On February 8, 2020, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a statement condemning the proposed U.S. Mideast peace plan dubbed the "Deal of the Century," and urging Muslims worldwide to unite around Palestine as their central issue and mobilize to wage a jihad war on all fronts to liberate it.

 

Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Video Features Al-Joulani Urging Mujahideen To Fight Fearlessly, Says If Russia, Iran Abandon Regime, Mujahideen Will Capture Damascus In One Week

On February 5, 2020, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) released a video featuring its leader, Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, urging a group of fighters from the Red Band brigades (HTS special forces) to fight fearlessly, and highlighting the weakness of the Syrian army, saying that the mujahideen would be in Damascus within a week if Russia and Iran stopped their military support.

 

Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Videos, Photos Documenting Its Operations In Aleppo, Syria

The Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) a Syria-based Al-Qaeda affiliated jihadi group, has released videos and photos documenting its planning and operations in Aleppo, Syria.

 

GSIM Cleric Publishes Essay Calling For Unity Among Muslims

On February 8, 2020, Az-Zallaqa Foundation, the official media outlet of Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeem, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the Sahel region, published an essay on Rocket.Chat calling for unity among Muslims.

 

Mixed Reaction To Formation Of New Jihadi Faction In Idlib Region

On February 8, 2020, Abu Al-'Abd Ashidda', a veteran Syrian jihadi who served as military commander of Aleppo during the failed rebel defense of the city in 2016, announced the formation of a new jihadi faction in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib region).

 

New Spanish-Language Pro-ISIS Media Outlets Launched

On January 18, 2020, a document was distributed on the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) server announcing the creation of a new media outlet publishing exclusively in Spanish, called the "Vida Fundacion De Medios" (Life Media Foundation).

 

Subtle Promotion Of ISIS In Spanish Proselytizing Video

On February 9, 2020, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet distributed a video on Telegram features a narrator speaking Spanish whose voice appears to have been digitally altered.

 

ISIS Article Describes Coronavirus As Allah's 'Epidemic' Visited On Chinese 'Unbelievers', Disagrees With Those Calling It Allah's Punishment For China's Persecution Of Muslims

On February 6, 2020, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 220 of its weekly newspaper, which includes an article describing Coronavirus as an "Epidemic" from Allah visited on the "unbeliever state of China."

 

Editorial In ISIS Weekly Says U.S. Seeks To Withdraw From Middle East, Calls On Muslims To Disrupt Israel's Security

The editorial of Issue 220 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba', which was released online on February 6, 2020, discussed in depth the implications of the U.S. Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, referred to as the "Deal of the Century."

 

ISIS Claims Killing Of Indian Policeman In Kashmir

On February 11, 2020, the Islamic State (ISIS) in Algeria released a statement claiming that its fighter Omar Al-Ansari had carried out a martyrdom operation by driving a car-bomb into an Algerian military base.

 

ISIS In Sinai Claims Attack Killing 8 Egyptian Soldiers, Wounding 7

On February 10, 2020, the Islamic State (ISIS) branch in Sinai, called Wilayat Sina or Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for an inghimasi ("deep penetration") attack carried out on February 9 by four suicide attackers on an Egyptian military outpost south of Sheikh Zuweid city, that killed and wounded 15 soldiers.

 

Photos From The Afghan Taliban's Outreach Program To Children In Paktia Province

On February 6, 2020, one of the websites of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) published a series of photographs from the Taliban's outreach program to Afghan youth and children.

 

On Justpaste.it, Tribute Paid To Slain Pakistani Taliban Commander Sheikh Abu Mohammad Khalid Haqqani

Sheikh Abu Mohammad Khalid Haqqani – a Shura ("advisory council") member of the jihadi group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) – was killed by Pakistani security forces in the last days of January 2020, according to a social media post.

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