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.
By: Matt Schierer
Russia has long demonstrated its interest in influencing the Arabic-language information environment; for years, Moscow has invested heavily in shaping media narratives in the Middle East, primarily via its Arabic news channels – Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik. These longstanding information efforts have only intensified since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow ramping up substantial resources toward propagating its narratives about the war across the Middle East. This report examines Moscow's growing wartime relations with "Sabereen News," a highly influential social media news outlet that is affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq and whose content is mostly in Arabic.
On April 24, 2023, a Telegram channel linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq shared a post urging Russian diplomats to implement a more effective public diplomacy plan in Iraq that would utilize the Iraqi popular support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On April 20, 2023, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), reported that its fighters seriously wounded an officer of the U.S.-trained "Danab" Somali special forces unit in a "qualitative operation" in Mogadishu's Wadajir district.
On April 13, 2023, media outlets and social media accounts linked to Iran-backed militias posted a one-minute video showing operatives representing Iran's Axis of Resistance factions gathered in an operation room to plan an attack on Israel.
On April 20, 2023, Jaysh Al-'Adl – a Salafi jihadi group based in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province – issued a statement delivered by the group's leader in which he marked Eid Al-Fitr 2023 by reiterating the group's aim to overthrow the Iranian Government.
On April 21, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda outlet posted links to audio and video recordings of an Eid Al-Fitr sermon delivered by a London-based Egyptian jihadi ideologue.
On April 20, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 387 of its weekly magazine, Al-Naba'. Rejecting the claims of ISIS detractors that the organization's attempts to establish a state ruled by shari'a brought calamity to those living under it, the magazine's editorial, "No Security without Shari'a," aims to exonerate shari'a by highlighting the lack of security in many Arab countries not ruled by it.
ISIS Weekly Reports Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) IED Attack Against Filipino Army
On March 20, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 287 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue featured an article reporting on a hitherto unclaimed attack against the Filipino Army by fighters of the group's East Asia Province (ISEAP).
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On April 20, 2023, an anti-Islamic State (ISIS) channel posted links posted links to a 43-page report[1] which, it claimed, was sent in June 2022 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) to ISIS' Office for the Administration of Remote Provinces. As the channel describes it, the report details the spoils seized by ISCAP operatives in their operations of "warfare, displacement, banditry, and highway robbery" in what ISCAP called "Christian" areas.
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The latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," an English-language monthly magazine published by a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which defines itself as a supporting entity for the Islamic State (ISIS), accuses Saudi and other Arab leaders of shutting their eyes to the crimes committed by Bashar Al-Assad regime's in Syria.
A lead article in the current issue of "Voice of Khurasan" – the English-language magazine of the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISKP) – criticizes Pakistan's leading Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani and others for arguing in an anti-jihad fatwa that Pakistan is an Islamic state while doing nothing against the 2018 Transgender legislation, allowing homosexuality in Pakistan.
Since mid-April 2023, multiple pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media groups have released posters threatening Israelis and Jews and inciting attacks against them, while discrediting opponents of ISIS which claim to support the Palestinian cause, such as Iran, Lebanese Hizbullah, Hamas, and others.
On April 26, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) outlet released a poster titled "Rise up, O Young Men of the Arabian Peninsula." The poster calls on ISIS supporters in the Arabian Peninsula to rise up against the "apostate" and "polytheistic" institutions and rulers of the region.
The editorial in Issue 368 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly newsletter Al-Naba', released on April 13, 2023, is titled "Hizbullah [The Party of Allah] or the Party of Satan?" Its publication was timed to immediately precede "International Al-Quds Day," which was started by Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and fell this year on April 14. In the days following its publication, multiple pro-ISIS media groups released posters containing excerpts from the editorial discrediting Iran and the groups it backs, while threatening Israelis and Jews and inciting attacks against them.
In an Urdu-language message on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, Ustad Usama Mahmoud, the spokesman of Al-Qaeda In The Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), says that Muslims from Palestine to Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh are facing an unprecedented crisis, and a solution lies in jihad and qital ("fighting to kill"), especially as Pakistani government has announced an offensive against the mujahideen.
On April 19, 2023, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), published a detailed report summarizing a series of "fierce attacks" perpetrated by Al-Shabab operatives between April 18 and 19, 2023, in central and southern Somalia.
On April 22, 2023, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released the 62-minute video titled "Even to the Dismay of the Disbelievers."
On April 21, 2023, the official outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a 26-minute audio recording featuring the group's spokesman delivering a message of congratulations on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate GSIM Claims Attacks Against Russian Wagner Group, Malian Army In Central Mali
On April 24, 2023, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), released two statements claiming separate attacks targeting the Malian Army and the Russian Wagner Group in Mali on April 22.
The media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the African Sahel, Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimeen (Group for Support of Islam and Muslims – GSIM), released several statements claiming responsibility for various attacks against Malian and Burkinabe troops between March 21 and April 17, 2023.
Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) Releases Photos Of Eid Al-Fitr Celebration In Syria
On April 24, 2023, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), a Uyghur jihadi group active in Afghanistan and Syria, released photos on its Telegram channel showing several of the group's leaders celebrating Eid Al-Fitr with children, the elderly, and wounded TIP fighters "in the Blessed Land of Sham [Syria]." The faces of the officials were digitally blurred.
On April 22, 2023, a pro-Syrian opposition outlet reported that a joint force of the U.S. army and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raided a farm south of Raqqa, known as "Al-Baghdadi's Farm" because slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi used to stay there when ISIS controlled the area.
On April 22, 2023, a Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed militias reported that an American drone was shot down by a missile fired by "unknown" individuals as it was circling near northern Iraq.
On April 25, 2023, six Telegram channels linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq published identical posts claiming that according to their intelligence, Israel is planning an airstrike in collaboration with the U.S. that will target Iran's Axis Of Resistance using Iraqi airspace.
Supporters Of Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades Glorify Attacks On U.S. Troops On TikTok
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Supporters of Iraq's Hizbullah Brigades have established accounts on both Instagram and Tiktok — while the Instagram account has yet to post any content, the group's page on Tiktok has posted several videos, including some glorifying attacks on U.S. servicemembers.
In a statement greeting the people of Afghanistan on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, Afghan Taliban emir Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada is completely silent on the Taliban government's ban on girls' education from Grade Six onward as well as the ban on women in colleges and universities of Afghanistan.
In a message greeting the people of Pakistan on Eid al-Fitr, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emir Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud accuses the Pakistani army and the government of seeking war against the Taliban in order to attract American dollars.
The fasting month of Ramadan – which began this year on March 23, 2023 – is celebrated by jihadi and Islamist groups in the Islamic world as a holy month of fighting and jihad. The religious significance of Ramadan as a month of Islamic battles was recently examined by Pakistani writer Sultan M. Hali in a newspaper column.
