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.
On April 18, 2023, a media arm of the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released Arabic and English versions of an infographic titled "America Is Suffocating."
On April 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of State designated Sami Mahmoud Muhammad Al-'Uraydi, the religious chief of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Hurras Al-Din, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
On April 19, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) outlet released a poster titled "The Struggle of the Taghouts [literally "false deities," a reference to rulers who govern by manmade law rather than shari'a]," depicting two rival Sudanese leaders, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the country's de facto ruler since an October 2021 coup, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemedti, head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.
The fighting in Sudan between the military forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted in early April has been a recurrent theme of the social media content published by the Islamic State (ISIS) supporting entities which see in the violent clashes between the two sides an opportunity to exploit the chaos and discredit its rivals, including other jihadis and local governments.
In early April 2023, violent clashes erupted in Sudan between the Sudanese army units loyal to the head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, the Sudanese Regular Armed Forces (SAF), and units belonging to the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which are fighting for control of the country. On social media, supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) called on the Sudanese Muslims to exploit the anarchy in the country to accumulate arms, and claimed that both sides of the conflict are connected to Israel and that the struggle between them is a "Jewish-crusader war.
On April 13, 2023, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed an attack in Nigeria's north-central Jigawa State. According to the claim, "soldiers of the caliphate" detonated an IED on three Christians in the town of Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State, on April 11, killing all three.
Islamic State Mozambique Province Claims Attacks Against Mozambican And SADC Forces, Killing Two
On April 17, the Islamic State Mozambique Province claimed responsibility for an April 16 machine-gun attack against barracks belonging to the Mozambican army and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in the village of Miangalewa in the Muidumbe district of Cabo Delgado.
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On April 13, 2023, the Islamic State's (ISIS') A'maq News Agency released a 17-second clip showing what it claimed were ISIS operatives attacking a vehicle operated by the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) on April 11, 20 kilometers from central Baghdad.
On April 13, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 368 of its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', featuring an editorial that discussed "Al-Quds Day," an annual event focused on liberating Jerusalem by fighting Israel that is sponsored by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khomeini.
On April 13, 2023, the Islamic State Mozambique Province released a poster commemorating a fighter who killed in battle. The poster is part of a series titled "The Caravan Of Shuhada' [Martyrs]" issued by ISIS provinces to pay tribute to its operatives who were killed in combat.
Over the past days several mass killings have occurred in the desert of eastern Syria. Some of the victims have been civilians, and others reportedly members of militias supporting the Assad regime. Suspicion for the killings has fallen on Islamic State (ISIS) cells which operate in the area, although the organization has not claimed any of the attacks.
On April 10, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) outlet released an infographic poster concerning "Bayt Al-Maqdis [Jerusalem or Palestine]", listing important events of "Bayt Al-Maqdis": the Prophet Muhammad's nighttime journey to heaven from Jerusalem in 621.
Al-Qaeda In The Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Releases Audio Recording Inciting Against ISIS
On April 19, 2023, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a 34-minute audio message titled "Al-Khawarij: The Worst Creatures Under The Sky," which aimed to incite Al-Qaeda operatives against the Islamic State (ISIS).
On March 25, 2023, Al-Andalus, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), released the fourth part in a series titled, "Illuminating the Minds to the Unbelief of the Rulers of Algeria."
The media arm of the Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released three minutes of footage documenting attacks carried out by the group's fighters against Ugandan soldiers and a pro-Somali government militia in Somalia's Lower Shabelle state.
On April 16, 2023, Al-Qaeda's media outlet Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) published a 12-minute video originally produced by Al-Kata'ib Media, the media wing of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), showing fighters graduating from jihadi training camp.
On April 11, 2023, an Al-Qaeda associate and writer published an article arguing that the U.S. is determined to turn Afghanistan into a center of regional threat by occupying Afghanistan's airspace and fostering ISIS as the "force on the ground" to destabilize the internal security of the Islamic Emirate and neighbors.
On April 18, 2023, an anti-Islamic State (ISIS) channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server, claimed that the ISIS operative targeted a day prior in a U.S. forces' raid in Aleppo's eastern countryside served as the security chief and deputy wali ("governor") of ISIS' Syria Province.
An outlet which supports the Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) released on Telegram a series of infographics documenting the outcomes of military operations carried out since January 1, 2023, by HTS and allied factions against positions of Syrian forces and Iran-backed militias in various northeastern Syria areas of fighting.
Jihadis React To CENTCOM Statement On Syria Raid; Question Accuracy, Identity Of Target
On April 17, 2023, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) published a press release announcing that early that morning U.S. forces conducted a unilateral helicopter raid in northern Syria targeting a senior leader of the Islamic State (ISIS).
Iran-Backed Ashab Al-Kahf Threatens To Attack American Facilities In Baghdad
On April 16, 2023, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Ashab Al-Kahf published a poster depicting an American soldier leaving a military base with a sign in front of it which reads, "This Facility Permanently Closed." The word "Soon," in English, appears above the sign. A subsequent English-language post reads: "Camp Liberty Camp Striker Camp Slayer Camp sather [sic] CIA site at Camp Victory Danger for sure."
On April 13, 2023, the official website of the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJ) published a statement announcing that high-ranking group representatives, headed by the Secretary General, the Mujahid Commander Ziyad Al-Nakhala, arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 12 in response to an Iraqi official invitation.
