Intelligence Brief | Eyes on Jihadism. Monitoring Jihadist Propaganda
Issue #171 - Week 17 - 24 July
Executive Intelligence Overview
This weekly intelligence brief documents and structures official jihadist propaganda output released between 17 and 24 July, providing structured situational awareness across multiple organisations and theatres.
This brief highlights operational claims and targets, emphasising their importance for threat recognition and strategic focus, aiding analysts and policymakers in understanding ongoing threats and their strategic implications.
The purpose of this product is to support systematic monitoring, reassuring analysts and policymakers that threat trends are being tracked thoroughly and that their efforts are crucial to understanding threats.
This publication does not include threat assessments, intent evaluation, or operational forecasting. Those components are addressed separately in dedicated analytical outputs.
🔹 Scope of Monitoring
This issue covers all identifiable official propaganda from a predefined list of jihadist groups, selected for operational relevance and threat level, during the reporting period, enhancing situational awareness.
The focus on documentation, classification, and structured presentation of primary-source material aims to instil confidence in analysts and policymakers about the reliability of the data used for threat assessment.
🔹 Sources & Collection Methodology
The analysis relies solely on primary-source propaganda, such as official magazines, videos, photos, statements, claims, and audio recordings, to clarify the scope of sources and bolster the reliability of the data for threat assessment.
Official magazines,
Videos,
Photo sets,
Statements and claims of responsibility,
Audio statements.
Material is collected and categorised by organisation, media outlet, and content type.
The study relies on OSINT, IMINT, SOCMINT, and Digital HUMINT collection streams.
No secondary reporting, media commentary, or interpretative overlay is applied.
🔹 Analytical Boundaries & Limitations
Fluctuations in volume, language, or format serve as signals of activity trends that analysts should interpret in a broader context to support accurate threat assessment and avoid overestimating their significance.
They shouldn’t be considered in isolation as indicators of strategic shifts, operational escalation, or changes in intent and capability; instead, they should be analysed within broader intelligence products.
Strategic shifts,
Operational escalation,
Intent or capability changes.
All higher-order analytical interpretation is conducted separately within:
Intelligence Briefs,
Strategic Threat Outlooks,
Cognitive and Information Domain Assessments.
🔹 Monitored Propaganda Output and Weekly Monitoring Notes
This issue includes all primary propaganda material released during the week by:
Al-Qaeda and affiliates
JNIM
Al-Shabaab
Pro-AQ media channels (Al-Bayan Newspaper - Weekly Issue)
Islamic State
al-Naba Newspaper (weekly Issue)
Official IS media channels.
Independent Jihadist Groups
Ittehad Mujahidin Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
The conclusions are included in the Weekly Monitoring Notes.
Al-Qaeda (AQ)
Az-Zallaqa Media, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), has issued a statement claiming to have carried out a large-scale ambush in the Gao region against the Malian army and the Russian private military company Africa Corps, in collaboration with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). Mali
Az-Zallaqa Media, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), issued 32 statements and 13 photos, claiming 39 attacks.
The targets of the attacks were: Malian Army, Dozo militia, Russian PMC Africa Corps, Burkinabé Army, VDP militia.
The areas of the attacks were :
1) Burkina Faso = 19
- Yatenga province, Séno province, Loroum province, Boulgou province, Séno province, Gourma province, Bam province.
2) Mali = 20
- Gao region, Sikasso region, Mopti region, Tombouctou region, Segou region.
The Shahada News Agency, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin (AS), released 14 statements claiming responsibility for 20 attacks.
The targets of the attacks were:
Somali Army, Somali Police, Somali pro-government militia, Ugandan Army, Ethiopian Army, Kenyan Army.
The areas affected by the attacks were:
1) Somalia = 16
- Afgooye area, Bulunagi area, Janale area, Mubarak area, Shalanbud area, Merca area, Lower Shabelle region; Afmadow area, Lower Juba; Qansahdhere area, Baidoa area, Bay region; Buloburde area, Beledweyne area, Tedan area, Hiiran region; Wajid area, Bakool region; El Wak area, Luuq area, Garbaharey area, Gedo region; Jowhar area, Middle Shabelle region; Masagaway area, Galguduud region, Mogadiscio area.
2) Kenya = 4
- Dadaab area, Garissa County;
- Lafey area, Mandera County.
In the third issue of the weekly Al-Bayan, published by the pro-AQ media outlet al-Yaqin (which has since also launched a dedicated al-Bayan channel on Telegram), which this time runs to 13 pages, features the usual infographic summarising the attacks of the past week, religious messages, reports on the activities of al-Shabaab and JNIM, and an editorial addressing the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran.
In the editorial, al-Qaeda reaffirms the need to wage armed struggle as the only means of defeating its enemies.
Islamic State (IS)
The official media of the Islamic State published 2 issues of the weekly al-Naba this week (556 and 557). Issue 556, eight pages long, covers the week of 24 Muharram to 1 Safar 1448, from 9 to 15 July 2026. The main infographic summarises the areas affected by military operations this week, including:
Nigeria, Niger, Mozambique, Iraq, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
IS claims to have conducted 21 operations in all the mentioned areas and to have caused 34 deaths and injuries.
Issue 557, eight pages long, covers the week of 2 to 8 Safar 1448, from 16 to 22 July 2026. The main infographic summarises the areas affected by military operations this week, including:
Nigeria, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
IS claims to have conducted 22 operations in all the mentioned areas and to have caused 100 deaths and injuries.
In issue 557, the Islamic State published an infographic regarding its province in Central Africa. ISCAP reportedly carried out 32 attacks, resulting in 184 deaths and injuries, over the past 5 weeks.
Among the targets, in addition to the Congolese army, pro-government militias, and Christian villages, ISCAP claims to have attacked and taken control of three mining sites (thus in line with its economic warfare strategy). The affected areas are the provinces of Haute Uele, North Kivu, and Ituri. DR Congo
Independent Jihadist Groups
Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), a Pakistani jihadist organisation comprising the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group (HBG), Lashkar-e-Islam and the Harkat Inqilab-e-Islami Pakistan (HIIP), released 13 statements, claiming 19 attacks.
The group continues to make extensive use of SVBIED, drones and suicide attacks.
Target: Pakistan Army, Pakistan Police, Counter Terrorism Department Police (CTD), Secret/Peace Committee.
Area:
- North Waziristan district, Khyber district, Hangu district;
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan
As-Saif Media, Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), a Pakistani jihadist organisation comprising Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s (HBG) group, Lashkar-e-Islam and Harkat Inqilab-e-Islami Pakistan (HIIP), published a video showing a series of drone attacks carried out by militants from Jaish al-Harith, a branch of the IMP, against Pakistani army barracks and bases in the South Waziristan district of Pakistan.
Umar Media, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has released a 4:39-minute video showing attacks by its militants on Pakistani police and CTD convoy in the Lower Dir district, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Umar Media, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has published a photo report showing the training of its militants. Pakistan
🔹Weekly Monitoring Notes
The reporting period from 17 to 24 July reflects a sustained high-volume propaganda cycle across the principal jihadist ecosystems, although the balance of activity shifted slightly from the previous week.