This month’s In Focus analyzes the audio release of the Islamic State’s spokesman, Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari, and his reference to the ongoing war between Palestinian terrorist groups and Israel in the Gaza Strip, explicitly inciting operatives and supporters to avenge their fellow Muslims and perform jihad. The publication of the speech may have been prompted by IS’ overall leader, who sent a proof of life and a message of encouragement via Al-Ansari. The speech signaled the beginning of a short, intensified jihad campaign, which started with a rare double suicide bombing in Kerman, Iran, and continued with a violent surge of attacks by IS affiliates around the world.
On January 3, IS claimed responsibility for the double suicide bombing in Kerman which resulted in nearly 90 reported deaths and almost 300 injuries, marking it as one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Iran’s history. The Iranian investigation suggests involvement from Tajik Islamic State Khorasan Province members in the planning, preparation, and implementation of the attack, highlighting the affiliate’s effectiveness as a regional operations branch in east Asia and its potential threat to distant regions.
This threat has manifested itself in IS’ shooting attack on a Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul on January 28. This is the first successful IS attack in Turkey since 2017. According to Turkish security forces’ investigation, one of the assailants is a Tajik national. Additionally, several other central Asian nationals are suspected to be linked to the attack, which was allegedly coordinated by ISKP.
This month’s Who’s Who? analyzes a Facebook profile belonging to an Indonesian IS supporter. Based on the nature of the profile and the content that it shares, this profile promotes propaganda content made by IS adherents and not official IS media networks or channels.
In our Instant Messaging Applications Monitoring, two different phone numbers were found and investigated – one with an Egyptian prefix and the other with a Sudanese prefix. Using the IMATM system, both numbers were found to be participants in radical WhatsApp groups with jihadist orientations, affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and IS. During the investigation, social media accounts that are possibly linked with these numbers were identified.
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