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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The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On September 10, 2023, the Al-Sahab Media Foundation, the official outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released Issue 11 of its Arabic-language Ummah Wahidah (One Ummah) periodic magazine. The current issue is "dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the #September_attacks," perpetrated by Al-Qaeda against the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
Marking the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Al-Sahab Media Foundation, the official outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released a book authored by Al-Qaeda Military Chief Sayf Al-'Adl, who is a potential successor to the group's slain leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who was killed on July 31, 2022.
EXCLUSIVE: Al-Qaeda Magazine Pays Tribute To 9/11 Hijacker Who Targeted The Pentagon
On September 10, 2023, Al-Sahab, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released the eleventh issue of its magazine Ummah Wahidah ("One Nation"). The 56-page publication marked the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks by paying a tribute to Hani Hanjor, leader of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.
On September 10, 2023, Al-Sahab, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released the eleventh issue of it magazine Ummah Wahidah (One Nation). The 56-page issue commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks by featuring a biography of Mohamed Atta, the hijacker of American Airlines flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
EXCLUSIVE: Twitter Accounts Promote Jihad, Terrorist Groups Proliferate Despite Ban, U.S. Sanctions
Since acquiring Twitter in October 2022, billionaire tech investor Elon Musk has made headlines for his approach to management and administration of the company and its site, which boasts up to 450 million monthly users. Musk has been explicit in his desire to loosen what he sees as unnecessarily restrictive monitoring and moderation policies, which supporters claimed had reduced hate speech and misinformation.
On September 10, 2023, a pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel shared a video produced by a pro-Al-Qaeda media team, in which an English-speaking narrator discusses the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
On September 8, 2023, on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center carried out by Al-Qaeda, a pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram channel published a post with a photo of the smoldering Twin Towers, calling the attack "the greatest martyrdom operation in contemporary history."
On September 11, 2023, two pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlets shared a complementary videoclip and poster to mark the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On September 6, 2023, Sheikh Muhammad bin Maher Al-'Aklouk, a pro-Hamas Gazan Islamic cleric and member of the Hamas-affiliated, The Association of Palestine Scholars, spoke during "a jihadi gathering" that was held in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
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Over the past days, jihadis on Telegram shared posts commenting on the earthquake that hit Morocco and the flooding in Libya's coastal city of Derna. In their reaction, some argued that the natural disasters are divine punishment against Muslims who do not abide by Islamic laws and reject the jihadi doctrine, while others criticized the international relief response, claiming that western countries do not extend support to Muslims.
On September 10, 2023, the Al-Sahab Media Foundation, the official outlet of Al-Qaeda's Central Command, released issue 11 of its Arabic-language Ummah Wahidah (One Ummah) magazine.
On June 30, 2023, Al-Malahem, the media arm of the Yemen-based jihadi group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), published the second edition of a book in which the author, senior AQAP official, Sudanese national, and former Guantanamo detainee Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Qousi a.k.a. Khubayb Al-Sudani, documented his recollections from the early days of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2022.
On September 10, 2023, a channel on the Al-Qaeda-operated Rocket.Chat server shared a poster by Al-Sindh, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Kashmir, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH).
Al-Qaeda's Sahel Affiliate GSIM Claims Back-To-Back Ambushes On Russian Wagner Group In Central Mali
On September 12, 2023, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the Sahel, released a statement claiming responsibility for attacks on Russian Wagner Group fighters in Central Mali.
On September 10, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the media arm of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), issued an English-language press release titled "Awdhegle – The Fifth Major Attack Against Apostate Bases in Two Weeks."
On September 7, 2023, Al-Shabab's Office of Politics and Provinces released an English-language statement titled "American Crusaders Massacre a Muslim Family," which accused U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) of conducting a "night raid" on a village in Galguduud, killing six civilians.
On September 13, 2023, the Shahada News Agency, the media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a statement on Telegram claiming responsibility for a suicide operation against a barracks of forces responsible for the security of Mogadishu in the capital's Daynile district, "inflicting heavy losses of lives and equipment."
ISIS Weekly Editorial: Enemies Fear ISIS's Continuing Expansion As They Face Unrest And Infighting
On September 7, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 407 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba'. The issue's feature article, titled "Terrify Therewith the Enemies of Allah," asserted that ISIS's enemies are increasingly afraid that the group will exploit conflicts between them to launch a resurgence.
Article In Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Praises Organization's Adherence To Jihad And Quran
On September 7, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) published issue 407 of its weekly Newsletter Al-Naba'. The issue contains a two-page article titled "To Make It [Islam] Prevail Over All Others [other religions]" (Quran 9:33), which discusses the importance of practicing jihad as the only legitimate way to support Islam according to the divine commandment.
On September 7, 2023, issue 407 of Islamic State (ISIS) Al-Naba' weekly was released, including a new claim of responsibility from its Iraq province for capturing two "spies" for the Iraqi government's National Security Service (NSS), in western Al-Anbar governorate.
On September 5, 2023, users of the Islamic State (ISIS)-encrypted server on Rocket.Chat discussed ways to travel to the African Sahel to join the ranks of ISIS.
On September 7, 2023, a Telegram channel sympathetic to the Islamic State (ISIS) and covering events in the detention facilities holding family members of accused ISIS fighters, published a post discussing recent fighting among the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Arab tribal forces in Syria's eastern Deir Al-Zour province.
On September 11, 2023, a Telegram channel affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, reported that a military convoy of U.S. forces had passed the Faysh Khabur border crossing between Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan into the "Iraqi interior."
On September 6, 2023, secretary-general of the Hizbullah Brigades, Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi published a dispatch in which he stated that efforts to banish "invaders" from Western Asia must continue, and that Israel must be excised by its roots.
In early September 2023, two Syrian opposition websites revealed fresh details about efforts on the part of Iran to recruit members of the Arab tribes in Syria's Deir Al-Zour Governorate, to the militias it supports.
On September 4, 2023, several Telegram channels supporting Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) released a photoset showing the group's "general leadership" meeting with "notables and dignitaries of the towns and villages of Jabal Al-Summaq," in the countryside northwest of Idlib.
On September 13, 2023, Jaysh Al-Muhajireen Wal-Ansar ("The Army of Immigrants and Supporters" – JMA), a group of mujahideen from the Caucasus affiliated with Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), released a two-minute 27-second video showing its fighters in Syria undergoing theoretical and practical training in using hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers.
On September 12, 2023, Ansar Al-Islam, a Kurdish jihadi group active in Syria, released an infographic claiming it had killed and injured over 80 "enemy" forces in attacks over the past three months. The infographic mentions over 105 shooting attacks in several places in the Al-Ghab plain northwest of Hama.
On September 13, 2023, a user on the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated Rocket.Chat server said he wants to join jihad in Syria.
On August 24, 2023, a pro-Afghan Taliban media outlet released a new Dari-language video focused on the activities of the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISKP). The video includes interviews with ISKP prisoners held by the Taliban, and goes on to argue that Tajikistan is the main base of ISIS and has become a serious threat to Afghanistan.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released a new video featuring fighters performing physical and weapons training, while a TTP commander cites the Quran's order to prepare for jihad in advance.
