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 February 7, 2023, a Syrian opposition website based in the UK whose aim is to document human rights abuses in Syria reported that following the February 6 earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria, about 20 ISIS prisoners held in a military police prison in the city of Rajo, north of Aleppo, managed to escape.
Following the February 6 earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey, causing thousands of casualties, Idlib-based Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) quickly invested its resources to help the victims. Several official and pro-HTS media outlets reported on HTS's relief efforts.
Following the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, several jihadi channels, including ones affiliated with the ISIS, commented on the earthquake, the reasons for it and the international response, and expressed their sympathy for the casualties.
Following the February 6, 2023, earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria, leaders of Iran-backed militias in Iraq who are allies of the Syrian regime issued statements reiterating their commitment to extend support to the "Syrian brothers," and to Turkey, highlighting their contribution to post-earthquake aid efforts to both countries.
On February 8, 2023, following the February 6 earthquake that rocked southern Turkey and northwest Syria, the Iraqi Hizbullah Brigade militia's Kaf Telegram channel published an official statement from the organization's Secretary-General Abu Husayn Al-Hamidawi. In his statement, Al-Hamidawi calls for the provision of aid to the Syrian people (in the territories controlled by the regime) and accuses the U.S. and the West of aggravating the suffering of the Syrian people with the siege they have imposed on the Assad regime, and of exploiting Syria's natural resources.
Following the February 6 earthquake that struck Turkey and northwestern Syria, and the ensuing relief efforts, several pro-Al-Qaeda jihadi clerics, Syria-based jihadis, and Iran-backed militias and supporters shared opposing views on the access to international relief for the Syrian people.
On February 2, 2023, a Telegram channel published a photo and video which it said show a former commander and emir of a Syria-based jihadi group who is currently fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, pictured with a cache of weapons allegedly provided by NATO.
On February 3, 2023, a pro-ISIS outlet released a four-minute video in Arabic, subtitled into English, titled "Avenge Your Religion, O Muslim in Europe." The video calls on Muslims in Europe to perpetrate "lone wolf" attacks to avenge acts of aggression against Islam, particularly recent public burnings of the Quran by Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan in Sweden and Denmark, and the public tearing apart of a Quran by Dutch politician Edwin Wagenfeld at the Hague, Netherlands.
On February 4, 2023, an English-language Telegram channel associated with a Michigan-based pro-ISIS preacher published a post about the "absence of qualified scholars and students of knowledge" in key positions within the Muslim community to reconcile between spouses.
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On February 2, 2023, the ISIS released issue 376 of Al-Naba', its weekly newsletter. The issue's feature article, titled "Kill the Jews," called for a global religious war to be waged against Jews, wherein Muslims should attack Jews and Jewish sites of worship everywhere.
WARNING – GRAPHIC: Islamic State Releases Photos Documenting Two Attacks In Congo, Mozambique
On February 1, 2023, the Islamic State Mozambique Province claimed responsibility for a January 31 attack on pro-government militias in Cabo Delgado.
Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) Claims First 2023 Attack In Philippines
On February 5, 2023, the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) published an official claim, reporting that "soldiers of the caliphate" had ambushed a patrol of the "crusader Philippine army" on the previous day on Mindanao Island in the south of the country.
In an article in the latest issue of "Khurasan Ghag [Voice of Khurasan]," the Pashtu-language magazine published by the media arm of the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), the group accuses the Afghan Taliban government of orchestrating a "deception drama" in the name of Islam, saying "their actions do not originate from Islam but from Islamabad" – a reference to the fact that Pakistan has supported them for decades.
A lead article in the latest issue of "Voice of Khurasan," an English-language monthly magazine published by the media arm of the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISIS-K) declares the Afghan Taliban rulers to be "allies of Satan" working with the forces of unbelief and accuses them of ignoring China's persecution of Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan (i.e., Xinjiang province).
User Of ISIS-Operated Rocket.Chat: Attacks In Europe Would Have Prevented Deaths Of ISIS Leaders
On February 8, 2023, a user of a Rocket.Chat server operated by ISIS supporters posted a one-minute 31-second video allegedly depicting the corpse of slain ISIS caliph Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi – whose real name was Amir Muhammad Sa'id 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Mawla Al-Slibi aka Hajji 'Abdallah Qardash – after he was killed in a February 2022 U.S. operation near Atmah in Syria's Idlib governorate.
On February 6, 2023, a group affiliated with an initiative aimed at showing solidarity with Muslim prisoners worldwide, which has been endorsed by pro-ISIS figures and extends to those charged with terrorism, issued a call on Instagram requesting support for a new convert to Islam imprisoned in Tennessee.
On January 7, 2023 a social media initiative to express solidarity with Muslim prisoners that has been endorsed by pro-ISIS accounts posted a two-page message by an American ISIS supporter encouraging Muslims in the West to preach Salafi-jihadi ideology.
On February 5, 2023, an outlet under the umbrella of the media arm of the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) posted a 19-minute video.
On February 4, 2023, 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), claimed responsibility in two different statements for six attacks against the Malian army in the Ségou and Koulikoro regions, occurring between January 18-30.
On February 5, 2023, 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), claimed in two separate statements responsibility for two attacks against the Malian army.
Starting on February 2, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda channel on Telegram began sharing a series of posts from pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel, including letters of support for, and solidarity with, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), following the January 30 U.S. drone strike, which killed senior AQAP operatives in Wadi Ubayda area, in Marib, in northeast Yemen.
On February 1, 2023, an Al-Qaeda supporter published an essay discussing the significance of the January 25 oath of allegiance performed by Tuareg faction tribesmen in Mali's Menaka region to Iyad Ag Ghaly, leader of Mali-based Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).
On February 2, 2023, a podcast hosted by an Idlib-based pro-HTS Turkish journalist interviewed a London-based HTS supporter and Islamic scholar in an episode about "Islamic Revolt."
On February 1, 2023, several Telegram channels affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq shared posts suggesting that the improvised rocket-assisted munition (IRAM), named Al-Ashtar rocket, may have been delivered to the Gaza-based Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), arguing that the "Islamic resistance" support to the PIJ comes in response to the "systematic attacks" against Palestinian female inmates in Israeli jails.
Syrian opposition media outlets on Telegram reported that Iran-backed Shi'ite militias affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are bolstering military presence across Syria by dispatching additional fighters and drones, increasing air defense capabilities, and smuggling fighters disguised as pilgrims visiting Shi'ite shrines in Damascus.
Islamist Party In Canada To Host Upcoming 'Khilafah' Conference Aimed At Restoring Islamic Caliphate
On February 2, 2023, Hizb ut-Tahrir Canada announced details about its upcoming Khilafah [Caliphate] conference, an annual event hosted by the party that centers around promoting an Islamic caliphate as the only legitimate system of governance for Muslims.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has denied any involvement in the bombing of a mosque in Peshawar's high-security police headquarters area that killed scores and wounded more than a hundred others.
In the latest issue of its Urdu-language journal "Taliban," Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) slammed the Pakistani government for demolishing a part of Jamia Hafsa, a female students' madrassa adjacent to the radical Red Mosque of Islamabad, the site of a 2007 Pakistani military operation against jihadi students.
In a monthly report on its operations, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) has said that the TTP mujahideen killed and wounded 107 members of the Pakistani security forces during the first month of 2023.
