ISIS

Last week, Russian-born Chechen Abdoulakh Anzorov stabbed and decapitated a school teacher in a street in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. According to French officials, the 18 year-old attacker targeted Samuel Paty after Paty showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in his class. Anzorov, who was later shot dead by the police, filmed the moments before the attack and the attack itself, which he uploaded to the Internet. He also uploaded a picture of Paty’s body to Twitter with a confession of killing one of French President Emmanuel Macron’s “hellhounds who dared to belittle Mohammed….”

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, ISIS supporters used a pro-ISIS RocketChat chatroom to celebrate and share a photo of the October 16 beheading attack on a French teacher in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Saint-Honorine. In addition, users of the 4chan politically incorrect board called for attacks on Muslims following the Paris area attack and posted a photo of the victim’s decapitated head.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, CEP researchers located a recently released ISIS propaganda video with French subtitiles, “To Be Absolved Before Your Lord 2,” which features combat footage between ISIS and Taliban forces allegedly in Afghanistan, shows the bodies of Taliban fighters killed in action, and accuses the Taliban of working for the U.S. Additionally, CEP researchers located a pro-ISIS video made by a media group called “Virtual Battlefield” that contained footage from several previously released ISIS propaganda films and urged the spread of official ISIS media, called for public support of ISIS online, and encouraged attacks. Also, ISIS supporters contined to share login information via RocketChat for accounts on the virtual private network (VPN) service Nord.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, CEP researchers located nearly 100 ISIS nasheeds uploaded on the audio website Spreaker that included a link to a pro-ISIS website in its upload description. Additionally, the ISIS-affiliated media agency Amaq News released two short clips that claimed to show ISIS fighters firing mortar shells at a Popular Mobilization Forces facility in the western Anbar province of Iraq and the nighttime roadside bombing of a vehicle allegedly belonging to Kurdish forces in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. Also, the pro-ISIS Al Battar Media Foundation released a video titled, “To the Awakening Groups in Mali,” which accused al Qaeda of allying with governments in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Algeria, against ISIS and celebrated alleged victories against the group. In addition, CEP researchers located an ISIS website on the .nl domain that contained ISIS propaganda material including the group’s Al-Naba weekly newsletter, statements from the group’s leadership, and content from the group’s print propaganda al-Himma library.

Ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government with support from the international community offer the prospect for stability in Afghanistan for the first time in nearly two decades. The talks could result in a significant reduction of the Taliban’s large-scale insurgency since the early 2000s. However, the country is still plagued by the operations of several international terrorist groups, some of which belong to the global network of al-Qaeda and others to ISIS.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, the eighth edition of the pro-ISIS web magazine “Voice of Hind” was released on multiple websites and declared to supporters that it is permissible for women, children, and the elderly to be killed in terrorist attacks. Also, ISIS released a new propaganda video, “To Be Absolved Before Your Lord 2,” through the group’s self-proclaimed Khorasan Province depicting combat footage between ISIS and Taliban forces as well as footage of slain Taliban fighters killed in action. In addition, a pro-ISIS chat on the RocketChat platform distributed approximately three dozen emails and login information for accounts with the virtual private network (VPN) service Nord.

A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed that ISIS and its affiliates worldwide are using a vast web of monetary and cryptocurrency assets to finance its terrorist activities. Despite losing its territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS reportedly commands a deep cache of financial resources ranging “into the hundreds of millions of dollars.” Their enduring financial strength is increasingly stoking fear of a resurgence and underscores the challenges the United States and its allies face in dismantling the terror group in entirety.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, CEP researchers discovered a dozen Facebook accounts spreading ISIS propaganda including videos, photos and text.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, a media group affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a statement encouraging attacks on France following the republication of Charlie Hebdo cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Additionally, CEP researchers located several pieces of ISIS propaganda—including execution photos from May—on Telegram’s Telegra.ph bulletin board feature, as well as a pro-ISIS website on the .pl domain containing ISIS propaganda videos, ISIS weekly newsletters, and daily Amaq News updates.

In August, ISIS fighters carried out more than 35 attacks and killed at least 76 pro-Assad regime fighters across Syria in the Homs, Deir Ez Zor, Raqqa, Hama, and Aleppo governorates. Since losing its territory in Syria, ISIS has shifted its strategy in the country from holding territory to an insurgency against the state. Nonetheless, the increased volume of violence, sophistication of attacks, and total number of pro-regime casualties demonstrates ISIS’s “robust logistical and strategic capability,” despite the defeat of its self-proclaimed caliphate.