Summary of Information on Jihadist Websites December 2016
Highlights
- Abu Hasan al-Muhajir, the new official spokesman for the Islamic State, praises the organization’s operatives for their steadfastness against their enemies. According to him, they face a wide front of enemies that seek to wipe out Islam and Muslims, including the US, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Kurds, the Shi’ites, the Alawites, the Sahawat, the militias, the rulers of Arab countries, and more. Therefore, it is imperative to sanctify war against each of these enemies and not to flee from battle. According to him, special focus should be placed on targeting Turkey anywhere in the world. In addition, al-Muhajir calls for attacks against established Sunni clerics as they provide backing and legitimization to tyrannical regimes and are, therefore, considered the worst infidels in the world who must be killed. As a result of the speech, there was a marked increase in publications and calls by the organization’s supporters to attack Turkish targets around the world.
- Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and the Taliban in Pakistan intensify the propaganda campaign against the Pakistani regime and encourage the Pakistani people to revolt against it. According to them, the Pakistani regime is prisoner to the network of interests of non-Muslim countries, as expressed in the persecution of the mujahideen and the oppression of Islam. Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent also calls on Pakistani army soldiers to defect and join the ranks of the organization.
- A series of Salafi-jihadist clerics, including Abdullah al-Muhaysini, Abu Maria al Qahtani and others publish a ruling calling on Syrian factions to quickly unite, among them Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham, Nour al-Din al-Zenki, Ajnad al-Sham, Liwa al-Haqq, The Turkistan Islamic Party and Ansar al-Din. According to them, unity is more important than ever before in order to maintain the Syrian revolution and bring about its victory. In the context of the unity issue, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham emphasizes that it views itself as committed to unity and is willing to relinquish leadership of the union for the sake of the Syrian revolution’s success against the Syrian regime.
- Al-Mourabitoun, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, claims responsibility for an attack at the Gao military airport used by French forces. According to the organization, the attack was carried out in the framework of opposition to the French presence in Mali.
- The Islamic State calls for attacks to be carried out in Bahrain due to the country’s cooperation with Britain and other western superpowers and its encouragement of improper phenomena, such as the sale of alcohol. The Shi’ite population in Bahrain is also accused of subversion and attempts to seize power.
- The Islamic State claims responsibility for the ramming attack in Berlin and describes the terrorist, Anis al-Amri, as “a soldier of the Islamic State who carried out the attack in response to calls for attacks against the subjects of the international coalition countries”. Following al-Amri’s death, the Amaq news agency publishes a video in which he swears allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and calls for attacks in Europe.