Eyes on Jihadism. Monitoring Jihadist Propaganda #78

From 8 to 15 August

In one publication, a newsletter collects the main propaganda of Jihadist and Salafist-Jihadist organisations and groups, from 8 to 15 August.

Propaganda will be divided into individual organisations:

In the case of al-Qaeda (AQ) and the Islamic State (IS), central leadership and official branches and provinces will be included.

As of 1 June 2023, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group operating in Syria, will no longer be included in this weekly monitoring of jihadist propaganda. The reasons are found in the fact that they no longer seem to apply the ideological and theoretical principles of jihadism in their propaganda, operations, and daily lives. Salafist-Jihadists are defined by their desire to create a state based on a Salafist approach to Islamic law, they oppose Muslim regimes that are not governed by Islamic law and their foreign supporters, and they aim at the total overthrow of the established order. HTS seem to be doing none of this. They do not implement jihadist governance or oppose foreign Muslim states but want to ally themselves with them, and even reach out, collaborate, agree with Western countries, or be recognised by international organisations. They avoid, in the areas under their control, implementing Salafist norms on the population, they oppose and fight other jihadist organisations, and in the speeches of their ideologues they do not seem to evoke or cite Salafist jihadist arguments, but purely Islamist ones.

On the other hand, some groups integrated into the HTS brigades or collaborating with the “Al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room” and the aligned groups remain included, as in their ideology and propaganda (also since they are not indigenous groups) continue to show clear links to local or global jihadism.

So, after AQ and IS, a section will be devoted to groups integrated into the Liwa of HTS but publish independent propaganda.

This will be followed by groups aligned with HTS (operationally and militarily, they coordinate with the “al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room” of HTS or they respect the policies of HTS), but not integrated with it.

Then there will be the independent groups, i.e. those that even though they have alliances and close relations with other jihadist groups, have independent operations and propaganda. 

Finally, there will be the Jihadist tactical groups.

This issue features all the main propaganda material from:

• al-Qaeda:

(AQAP, JNIM, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin);

• Islamic State (IS):

(1 issue al-Naba, IS official media)

• Jihadist Tactical Group

(Albanian Tactical, Yurtugh Tactical).

I would like to remind all readers to access the app or the site because within the e-mail you cannot read the entire analysis and not all photos are displayed.

1. Al-Qaeda (AQ)

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) published 3 Statements to claim 3 attacks.

Target: Security Belt Force,

Area: Wadi Omran, al-Mudiya area, Abyan governorate. Yemen.

Az-Zallaqa Media, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), released 11 statements, 11 photos and 1 infographic, claiming 13 attacks.

Target: Burkinabe Army, Malian Army, Togolese Army, Beninese Army.

Area: Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin.

Al-Kataib Media, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin, issued a lengthy statement to affirm and claim the conduct of a major attack against a Somali pro-government militia base in the Balad area of the Middle Shabelle region. Somalia

2. Islamic State (IS)

The Islamic State released issue 455 of its weekly al-Naba Newspaper.

Within the issues, much information is disseminated about the military operations conducted by IS in the week covering from 2 to 8 August 2024.

The provinces affected by the mentioned week’s military operations were: Sham (Syria), West Africa (Nigeria) Central Africa (RD Congo), Mozambique and Sahel (Mali).

The Islamic State’s official media published a photo report from the Central African Province (ISCAP), showing its fighters conducting an ambush against a Congolese army patrol in Ituri province. DR Congo

The Islamic State’s official media published a photo report from the Central African Province (ISCAP), showing its fighters destroying a Cistri village in North Kivu province. DR Congo

3. Jihadist Tactical Group

Yurtugh Tactical - Turkestan Mujahideen has released some images of its training activities. Syria

Albanian Tactical, a tactical group of the jihadist group Xhemati Alban, published a photo report of its fighters in training. Syria

Daniele Garofalo is a researcher and analyst on Jihadist Terrorism, Islamist Insurgents and Armed Groups. He is an expert in Monitoring Jihadist Media Channels and Islamist rebels and Armed Groups.

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