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 May 7, 2022, the Taliban announced that the burqa would once again be mandatory attire for all women in public in Afghanistan. In a video posted to YouTube on June 3 criticizing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban jihadi organization that rules the country) for forcing women to wear the burqa, former jihadi commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has said that covering a woman's face and hands is not included in the Islamic order on veiling for women.
On June 22, 2022, an anti-Islamic State (ISIS) channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server published a post speculating on the identity of ISIS's acting commander following Turkish news reports claiming that authorities in Istanbul had arrested the man believed to be the third caliph less than three months after his instatement.
EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Editorial Calls On Muslims To Migrate To Africa
On June 16, 2022, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 343 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue's feature article – titled "Africa, Land of Migration and Jihad" – extolled the stratagem of ISIS's African provinces and encouraged Muslims to make hijra, or migrate, to Africa.
On June 19, the media arm of the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), issued a statement in Arabic titled "Statement on Defending the Honor of the Prophet."
On June 21, 2022, a user of the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated Rocket.Chat server posted several images showing pages from an ISIS textbook for preschool children, teaching them about Islamic practices and values, including jihad.
On June 22, 2022, the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) reported that on the previous day its operatives had fired with machine guns during an ambush on "a commercial convoy of unbeliever Christians" on the Beni-Kasindi Road in Makisabo village, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The latest issue of the Islamic State (ISIS) monthly magazine "Voice Of Khurasan" includes an article defining three stages of jihad that seems to encourage the ISIS mujahideen to fight even non-Muslims who do not attack Muslims.
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An exclusive report in issue 343 of the Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Naba' weekly magazine, released on June 16, 2022, provides a comprehensive ISIS review of its activity against "the apostate militias which fight for the apostate armies and the crusaders" in eastern Mali between May 22 and June 4, 2022.
Issue 343 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba' magazine, which was released on June 16, 2022, includes an exclusive report which claims that on June 8, 2022, ISIS operatives attacked a graphite mine belonging to an "Australian crusader" company in northeast Mozambique, and killed two of the men guarding the facility.
ISIS Publishes Photos Of Attack On Police Station In Southwestern Niger
On June 18, ISIS published a pictorial report of an attack on a police headquarters in a village on the border with Burkina Faso in western Niger. The attack was first claimed by ISIS in issue No. 343 of its weekly Al-Naba' magazine, released on June 16, 2022.
ISIS In Syria Claims Deaths Of 13 Syrian Soldiers In Attack On Military Bus
On June 20, 2022, the Islamic State (ISIS) Syria province claimed responsibility for the deaths of 13 soldiers in an attack on a Syrian Armed Forces bus south of the city of Raqqa in the northeast of the country.
On June 17, ISIS claimed responsibility for a June 15 attack on two villages in north Cameroon, in which six Christians were killed, including two priests. During the attack, several houses and one church were set on fire.
Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) Claims Deaths Of Five Christians In Eastern DRC
On June 22, 2022, the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) reported that on the previous day its operatives opened fire with machine guns in an ambush on "a commercial convoy of unbeliever Christians" in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
On June 18, 2022, ISKP (Islamic State in Khorasan Province) claimed responsibility for an attack on a "temple of Hindus and Sikhs" in Kabul carried out that morning.]According to the claim, which was issued in two versions by ISIS news agencies, "around 50 Sikhs and Hindus and Taliban" were killed or injured.
On June 16, 2022, Operation Inherent Resolve held a press briefing in which it announced that Coalition forces captured a senior Islamic State (ISIS) leader during a counterterrorism operation in northern Syria. Following the announcement, Syrian jihadi and pro-rebel social media accounts mocked ISIS, saying it has been "fatally breached" and that efforts to uproot fanaticism should take priority.
On June 16, 2022, the Kuwaiti Al-Jarida daily reported that according to a "senior source" in the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), despite the increase in attacks on Hizbullah and Iranian targets in Syria, which are attributed to Israel, during the previous two weeks Hizbullah received "large shipments of advanced missiles."
Against the backdrop of a military campaign waged by Turkey during the first half of 2022 against the PKK in northern Iraq and which – according to reports in Iraq – has also claimed the lives of Iraqi civilians, threats to attack Turkish interests in Iraq continue to emanate from armed Iraqi groups which are apparently affiliated with the Iran-backed militias.
On June 17, 2022, Mike Pompeo, who was Secretary of State for the Trump administration, gave an interview on Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya TV, and revealed details about the January 3, 2020 assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and the deputy-commander of Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi (the Popular Mobilization Units, PMU).
On June 16, 2022, a Telegram channel affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, released a 22-second video featuring an Iraqi song praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family, saying they contribute to the welfare of their people and country.
On June 15, 2022, two Iran-backed Iraqi militias published statements on their Telegram channels calling on Iraqi officials, politicians, and citizens to defend Iraq against Turkish military operations in the country's north.
During June 2022, Syrian opposition websites reported that Hizbullah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were continuing their efforts to recruit Syrians, provide them with military training, and send them to Yemen to fight alongside their shared ally, the Houthi Ansar Allah movement.
June 20, 2022, a Syrian opposition website published a report claiming that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is holding a course in the western countryside of Deir Al-Zour, training members of "Syrian Hizbullah" to become commando fighters.
On June 4, 2022, the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen marked "the anniversary of Al-Sarkhah [The Cry] in the face of arrogance." Al-Sarkhah is the movement's slogan, chosen by its late leader, and says, "Allah is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Cursed be the Jews, Victory to Islam."
