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.)
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On December 30, 2022, a media arm of the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released Arabic and English versions of an infographic titled "Timeline of the American War on Terror."
On December 31, 2022, the media arm of Al-Qaeda Central Command, released an 11-page PDF article in Arabic and English, titled "Did Santa Clause Join Al-Qaeda?"
On January 1, 2023, a pro-ISIS outlet released a four-minute video titled "Take Revenge," urging Muslims to perpetrate attacks during the holiday season in retaliation for the killing of Muslims at the hands of "Christians."
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On January 3, 2023, Telegram channels linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq highlighted statements made by militias' commanders to mark the third anniversary of deaths of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani and Deputy Commander of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Both were killed in a U.S. airstrike, ordered by President Donald Trump, near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
During the final two days of December 2022, in advance of the third anniversary of the January 3, 2020 assassinations of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, General Qasem Soleimani and deputy commander of Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi (Popular Mobilization Units, PMU) Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, Telegram channels which support Iran-backed militias in Iraq published threatening posters and video clips.
On December 28, 2022, a media outlet affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, published a Telegram post calling for Iraqis to use the rallies commemorating the upcoming third death anniversary of Iranian IRGC Qods Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) deputy leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis as a launchpad for an armed popular uprising against the U.S., which assassinated the two leaders in a January 3, 2020 airstrike near Baghdad International Airport.
ISIS Claims Killing Or Wounding 15 Egyptian Police Officers in Ismailia
On January 1, 2023, the Islamic State's (ISIS) Sinai province claimed responsibility for an attack against Egyptian police forces on December 30.
ISIS Claims Killing Or Injuring 50 Taliban Operatives Near Kabul Military Airport
On January 2, 2023, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for an attack against Taliban operatives near the Kabul military airport on January 1, 2023.
On January 2, 2023, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for killing and wounding several guards in a blast targeting the governor of Nigeria's Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, on December 29, 2022.
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Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) Video Shows Fighters Pledging Allegiance To New Caliph
The Islamic State's Central Africa Province (ISCAP) released a nine-minute video on December 28, 2022, the eighth in the ISIS video series "And Surely Allah Will Help Him Who Helps His Cause," (Quran 22:40) which portrays fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) pledging allegiance to the new ISIS caliph.
On December 29, 2022 the ISIS released issue 371 of its weekly newsletter. Al-Naba' which featured an editorial titled "High Spirit Is Important," which called on operatives and supporters to apply their Islamic knowledge in their actions across different aspects of their lives.
On January 4, 2023, the media arm of the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), released the first issue of its Arabic language magazine "Sawt Horasan" (Voice of Khorasan).
The latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," an English-language monthly magazine published by Al-Azaim Foundation, the media arm of the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), has two articles that define the characteristics of a hypocrite according to shari'a, while the coverpage story declares Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, the leader of the Idlib-based jihadi organization Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) a hypocrite, accusing him of betraying jihad.
East Asia Knights (EAK), an unofficial pro-ISIS media outlet claiming to represent Islamic State operatives in East Asia Province (ISEAP), published a series of statements and videos to showcase the group's adherence to jihad as a means for establishing Islamic rule in the region, under the command of ISIS.
On December 29, 2022, a pro-ISIS outlet released a video nearly five minutes in length, titled "Till When? A Message to Every Zealous Muslim." In Arabic with English subtitles, the video calls on Muslims to sacrifice their lives perpetrating "lone wolf" attacks to avenge the killing and mistreatment of their fellow Muslims, encouraging them to follow the examples of those who carried out dozens of such attacks over the past decade in the West and elsewhere, on behalf of ISIS.
On January 3, 2022, an anti-ISIS Telegram and Rocket.Chat channels, commented on a video supposedly showing clashes between ISIS and Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria, arguing that ISIS has attempted to downplay infighting between the two groups.
On January 2, 2023, the media arm of the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) published the first issue of a series of statements by AQAP's Shari'a Committee titled: "On the Ruling of Fighting in the Ranks of the Apostate Governments."
On January 4, 2023, Al-Shabab's media arm released a statement claiming responsibility for same-day suicide attacks against two military bases in the city of Mahas in Somalia's Hiran region, from which pro-Somali Government militias operate.
On January 2, 2023, the Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) official media outlet released a four-minute video of a speech delivered by HTS leader Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani titled, "We Will Not Reconcile." Al-Joulani relates to the meeting that was held in Moscow on December 28, 2022, by the defense ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey, during which there was discussion about resolving the prevailing situation in Syria.
The editorial in Issue 44 of a monthly magazine released by a group of independent jihadi clerics based in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib region on December 31, 2022, asserts that the Syrian revolution is in grave danger and urges the rebels to immediately intensify their jihad against the Assad regime to reverse their setbacks, warning them not to view Turkey as a patron which supports rebel interests.
On December 19, 2022, a ChirpWire user who claims to be the head of media for a jihadi group and founder of its media outlet announced that the new issue of the English-language magazine O Mujahideen in the West will be released in January 2023 and be devoted to the topic of "the forgotten Muslim prisoner."
Iran-Backed Militia In Iraq Claims Responsibility For Missile Attack On U.S. Military Base In Syria
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In the early hours of January 4, 2023, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, Ahl Al-Tha'er (People Of Vengeance), posted a brief statement on its Telegram channel claiming responsibility for a missile attack on the U.S. military base in the Al-Omar oil field in Deir Al-Zour, Syria.
On January 2, 2023, several Iran-backed groups in Iraq issued statements commemorating the third anniversary of the death of IRGC Qods Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani and PMU (Popular Mobilization Units) deputy leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, killed in a U.S. strike on January 3, 2020.
On January 3, 2023, Telegram channels affiliated with outlets lined to Iran-backed militias in Iraq reported that a missile attack targeted the U.S. military base in the Al-Omar oil field in Deir Al-Zour, Syria.
Following the Afghan Taliban's December 20, 2022 decision to suspend university education for women in Afghanistan, pro-Al-Qaeda clerics, supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS), and Syria-based jihadis published posts online both supporting the Taliban's anti-Western stance, but also disapproving of the decision, saying it is a rushed, unacceptable move, and an "assault" on shari'a.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) released a monthly report on its operations during the month of December 2022. According to the report, the TTP fighters carried out a total of 69 attacks in December 2022, killing 87 members of Pakistani security forces, wounding 119, and capturing 21 others.
As the December 18-20, 2022, siege by jihadi prison inmates of the detention facility of the counter-terrorism department (CTD) in Bannu district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was underway, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emir Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud released an audio message encouraging the jihadi hostage takers.
It has emerged that Charles Sobhraj – the criminal nicknamed "Bikini Killer" and "the Serpent" and whom the government of Nepal has freed after 19 years and deported to his home country of France – negotiated for India when an Indian airlines passenger plane was hijacked to Kandahar in 1999.
