Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Tawhid wal Jihad

Al-Taefa Al-Mansoura

Africa North

20060506

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

'They Kill Everyone': How Central Asian Militants Carried Out Massacre in Syria

2025-03-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Sergey Adamov

[REGNUM] The past few days in Syria have seen an unprecedented surge in violence against local religious minorities: Alawite Muslims and Christians. Social media has been rocked by hundreds of videos in which militants proudly documented their crimes, including mass murders of unarmed people and public torture.

Throughout the conflict, Regnum correspondents were in contact with residents of the Syrian coast, thanks to which they were able to collect dozens of testimonies from civilians about crimes committed by militants.

Eyewitnesses note that militants of foreign origin, natives of Central Asia and the Caucasus, who are noticeably different from Arabs in appearance and stand out against their background, showed particular cruelty in reprisals against the civilian population.

A longstanding problem in the region.

A Red Crescent volunteer, who witnessed mass executions, spoke about the atrocities of foreigners. "The murders are happening for no reason, it is not the military or soldiers who are doing this. These are foreigners - Afghans, Uzbeks, Uighurs," said the author of the video, published on social networks.

Now the new Syrian authorities are arresting civilians for communicating with the media (primarily with the Russian media), so all reports from sources are published anonymously. However, oral testimonies can only serve as confirmation of the crimes in which natives of the Caucasus and Central Asia took part, who do not hide their goals: to create a monolithic society in Syria, united by a radical ideology, in order to carry this ideology further.

GUESTS FROM THE EAST
Militants of foreign origin first appeared in Syria during the first stage of the civil war in 2011–2012. The leadership of the Al-Qaeda* movement called on Central Asians to participate in military operations in the Middle East.

Terrorists from Uzbekistan (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, IMU), Tajikistan and the Caucasus (Anjad-Kavkaz*)

…or Ajnad al-Kavkaz, Chechen group that split off from Caucasus Emirate…

were able to penetrate through Turkey into the northern regions of Syria, where they came into direct contact with the local branch of Al-Qaeda*, the Jabhat al-Nusra* group (later Hayat Tahrir al-Sham*).

Later, militants from among ethnic Uyghurs, representatives of the so-called “East Turkestan Islamic Movement” (ETIM)*, appeared on the territory of Syria.

The formed "terrorist international" took part in battles against government troops and by 2015 was able to establish control over the province of Idlib. A number of groups received their "allotments", for example, the Uyghurs settled in the area of the city of Jisr al-Shughur, and the Caucasians - the outskirts of Idlib.

The region has become a “promised land” for terrorists from all over the world, who have found in Idlib a safe haven and a springboard for planning attacks around the world. In the fall of 2024, it was these formations, as the most motivated, that took part in the offensive on Aleppo, which ended with the fall of the city, and subsequently the collapse of the government of Bashar al-Assad.

IN A NEW ROLE
The "revolutionary" government of Syria has praised the role of foreign formations, granting all foreign fighters Syrian citizenship and effectively legalizing their status.

Now the former “exiles” have become full-fledged citizens, and, what’s more, 100% loyal to the new regime.

The exact number of foreign fighters is unknown. According to Tajik authorities in 2024, there were about 400 Tajik citizens in the Syrian province of Idlib. The total number of "insurgents" in the ranks of the new Syrian army, according to various estimates, ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 people.

Former mercenaries received high positions in the new government.

For example, a native of Tajikistan, Saifiddin Tadjiboev, who was wanted in his home country on charges of terrorism and mercenarism, was appointed commander of the operational headquarters in the new government’s Ministry of Defense.

ON THE EVE OF THE MASSACRE
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government, members of ethnic and religious minorities in Syria have lived in constant fear.

The new authorities in Damascus have officially declared that they will not persecute representatives of any community. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Mohammed Julani) has demonstratively met with heads of Christian churches, promising protection and patronage.

However, already in the first days of the "new Syria" a wave of attacks on churches and representatives of religious minorities swept across the country. Even then, militants of foreign origin distinguished themselves separately, simply ignoring Damascus' calls for religious tolerance and disarmament.

In the following months, it was these same formations that spread across the entire Syrian coast, viewing the region and its inhabitants as fair game.

After the first open clashes broke out, a total mobilization of radicals and their supporters, a kind of "activists", was declared in the neighboring provinces of Hama and Idlib, who were joined by local residents who wanted to rob their Alawite neighbors. However, the backbone of the "cleansing" forces was made up of armed foreigners.

Footage taken by a militant of Chechen origin, commenting on the events in Syria in Russian, is being published online. "There will be no mercy," the author of the videos says, showing footage of terrorist columns being transferred to Latakia. "We continue to clean up," reads the caption to the video of armored vehicles being deployed on the streets of coastal cities.

Over the following days, Regnum correspondents maintained round-the-clock contact with residents of the Syrian coast, receiving information about what was happening first-hand.

This is how residents of the city of Baniyas describe the first night of the pogroms: “Towards evening, the power went out in our neighborhood. Then groups of pogromists began to enter from different sides, they broke into cars, robbed stores, threw stones at windows. They were followed by armed people who went from house to house. They came to our neighbors’ house with a can of paint, they “marked” people, painted their faces black, insulted them, and then left threats and insults on the walls.”

Among the attackers, local residents particularly noted militants with a characteristic Turkic appearance, often not speaking Arabic. According to eyewitnesses, it was they who showed particular cruelty. An audio recording with instructions calling on local residents "loyal" to the government was distributed, calling on them not to go out into the streets. The voice on the recording says that "Uzbek and Chechen mujahideen" do not differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites and kill everyone.

BLOODY MARCH 8TH
By the morning of the second day of the conflict, the regime had managed to concentrate enough forces on the coast to conduct all-out raids. The Islamists were particularly brutal in the Alawite areas outside the Syrian coast, in the provinces of Hama and Homs.

Tellingly, foreign fighters did not hide their participation in the massacre. In the area of the city of Jabla, a group of Uzbek natives was “spotted”, broadcasting live from the scene and streaming in the Uzbek language. The fighters, belonging to the group “Tawhid wal Jihad”*, told their audience that they had come to Latakia “to punish the infidels” and shared their “political program”.

In particular, they propose that the new Syrian authorities "cleanse" the region and populate it with "faithful Muslims." Syrian Christians are offered either to convert to Islam or to pay "jizya" for life - a tax on non-Muslims in Koranic law.

How traditional.

In fact, we are talking about a doctrine of genocide, which provides for the extermination of the indigenous population, followed by its replacement by “faithful” ones.

Convert, pay jizya, or die. Sometimes only the third is on offer.

In order to more actively populate the coast with "faithful" militants from Central Asia took part in the massacre of Alawites in the village of al-Tuwaim in Hama province. In the "final" round, the radicals beat to death about 15 children aged between one and ten years. Some of the residents of Hama were able to hide in the mountains, but now these people are afraid to return to their homes.

"When we heard about the beginning of the conflict, my relatives were able to leave. There were old people left in the village who asked to leave them. We know that they have been killed now. Somewhere in the houses there are bodies that no one has removed because people are afraid to return for a long time. All the men were killed, some women have disappeared, and no one knows where they are," the source told IA Regnum.

DENOUEMENT
By the morning of March 9, the militants had reached the epicenter of the conflict, the city of Jabla, after which another wave of violence swept through the surrounding villages. In one of the videos made in the vicinity of Jabla, the militants filmed a residential building they had set on fire. "Look, the house of the Alawites is burning!" one of the authors of the video says.

Throughout the day, terrorist gangs continued to repeatedly "cleanse" populated areas, often shooting at everyone they encountered without distinction. At the same time, the heads of Syria's Christian churches issued a joint statement calling for an immediate end to the violence. The "world community" also joined the call, albeit belatedly.

Local residents report that a “clean-up” has begun in the cities of Baniyas, Tartus and Latakia: militants are removing corpses from city streets and even washing blood off the asphalt in preparation for the arrival of foreign journalists.

In a separate statement, Ahmed al-Sharaa said the government would set up a "commission" to investigate "incidents of violence" on the coast, but locals were under no illusions.

"We are still afraid to leave our homes now, no one can assess the damage done. Those who survived were left without all their property, others without their families. We will never forget these two terrible days. Now there is a "roll call" in the chats, we are looking for our own. But we know that there will be no justice for the criminals," the Syrians believe.

Events in Syria have vividly confirmed the worst fears about the prospects for a peaceful settlement in that country. But whatever their consequences, it is absolutely clear that terrorist groups operating in Syria pose a threat far beyond its borders, and that their militants may fall victim to far more than just Syrian ethno-confessional minorities.

People from post-Soviet countries who “distinguished themselves” by committing mass murders probably dream of returning to their native lands and repeating the same thing in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, of course, in Russia.

Of course.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Philadelphia: More on the Teen Jihadi who Planned to Bomb Pride Parade

2024-09-29

More on this story from August. Robert Spencer gets us a name and background.

[PJMedia] Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is eighteen years old, and like many young men his age, he had big dreams. Abdul-Rahman wanted to become a bombmaker for jihad groups, and he researched the Philadelphia Pride parade and the Army-Navy game as potential targets. His father, a prominent far-left lawyer, had no comment, but one has to wonder: did this young man learn at home that this kind of behavior was acceptable?

The News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported that Abdul-Rahman was nothing if not enterprising: he "conducted at least 12 tests on homemade bombs near his family’s home before he was arrested and was close to being able to detonate devices with a blast radius of several hundred yards."

Robert Listenbee, Philadelphia’s First Assistant District Attorney, adds that the would-be jihadi "had a scholarship to attend college as a wrestler and decided he wanted to become a bomb maker. He wanted to leave America and go to Syria to join a terrorist group. He developed bombs in his home and tested those bombs 12 to 20 times in his backyard and in the woods nearby. Some of the bomb-making parts were found in his trash before he was arrested."

As Abdul-Rahman was doing all this, it is extremely unlikely that his parents didn’t notice: "detectives found Abdul-Rahman was collecting materials to make explosives at his parents’ [home]."

Abdul-Rahman wanted make bombs for two jihad terror groups: Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ),

…made up of Turkic types: Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs and based in Syria’s Idlib province — nothing at all to do with the spoilt kid of a Moslem African-American politician….

which is an al-Qaeda affiliate, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS). He did not, however, intend to use his bomb-making skills only in Syria. CBS News notes that he was "was searching online for potential targets in the Philadelphia area, specifically the Philly Pride March and the Army-Navy game. He allegedly was also looking into targeting local power plants and domestic military bases."

How far has the apple fallen from the tree? Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman is the son of Qawi Abdul-Rahman, a prominent Philadelphia criminal defense attorney who ran in May 2023 for a seat as a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge. In a "vote for ten" election, Abdul-Rahman finished fourteenth, with 3.88% of the vote.

According to the Rantburg archives, Pops is a lawyer, wannabe judge so he could put his thumb on the scales for his people, father of three teenagers, loudly proud to be a child of the US Air Force and the Philadelphia projects — but he lives in the intersection of activist Islam and Black Lives Matter...

In a campaign video, Abdul-Rahman wears a djellaba, a flowing robe that is common in North Africa but usually worn in America only by Moslems who are extremely devout. His forehead also sports a superbly prominent zebiba, a dark mark caused by performing the repeated prostrations that are called for in Islamic prayer, and that is generally understood to be a sign of extraordinary piety.

Journalist Victor Fiorillo of Philly Mag reported back in Aug. 2023 that he contacted Qawi Abdul-Rahman to ask him about his son, and found the renowned attorney extremely bellicose: "You wanna find out what I’m really about?" Qawi Abdul-Rahman asked Fiorillo. "Text or call me one more time, and you’ll find out what I’m really about."

Qawi Abdul-Rahman has insisted, however, that he had little or no knowledge of what his son had been up to. He said he was "shocked and devastated" by his son’s arrest, adding, "I didn’t see it coming at all. At all. I go to court because I want people to know that Moslems are out here doing things in the community, for the community. I’m an American like everyone else."

Of course. Qawi Abdul-Rahman’s judge campaign page features another video that proclaims that "Black Judges Matter." In that video, he complains of judges who don’t give him and his clients the same attention and care they give to his "white counterparts." He complained about judges and court staff "looking at us as if we don’t belong."

Philadelphia officials are insisting that their young terror suspect was "radicalized on the Internet" and that his plans had nothing to do with Islam, but is anyone there looking into the possibility that his determination to strike against America arose from sources closer to home?

🚨Teen Radicalized Online Plots Bomb Attacks on Targets in the Philadelphia Area 🚨

An 18-year-old from West Philadelphia, Muhyyee-ud-din Abdul-Rahman, has been charged with plotting bomb attacks, including targeting the Philly Pride Parade and infrastructure sites like military… pic.twitter.com/xfce0lcd4V
— Sivan🕊 (@SivanSpeaks) September 27, 2024

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

FSB detains 49 militant accomplices who were sending money to Syria

2024-02-27

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Almost 50 accomplices of Islamists who transferred money to militants in Syria were detained in 22 regions of Russia. The Center for Public Relations of the FSB of the Russian Federation reported this on February 26.

The FSB, in cooperation with Rosfinmonitoring and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, eliminated the international channel of resource support for militants from “Katiba Tawhid wal-Jihad”

Also spelt Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad. The Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

(a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), which was coordinated by emissaries located in Syria.

“As a result of the activities carried out on the territory of 22 Russian regions, 49 members of an accomplice terrorist network involved in the collection and transfer of funds for the needs of militants operating in Syria were detained,” the report says.

It is noted that some of them spread radical Islamic ideology in the Muslim Ummah of the Russian Federation via the Internet and justified terrorism.

The department noted that criminal cases have been initiated, operational search activities and investigative actions are ongoing.

As Regnum reported, a student was taken into custody in the Altai Territory for trying to send a parcel of medicines abroad to the militants of the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation). He established contact with terrorists, and during the conversation expressed a desire to go to Syria and join the ranks of a terrorist organization.

In addition, at the end of 2023, the student purchased a batch of medical supplies needed in real combat conditions. Next, he sent the parcel abroad to the address specified by the “curators” in the interests of a terrorist organization. The mail was promptly seized by FSB operatives. A criminal case has been initiated on this fact.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Far-Left Philly Lawyer Shocked to Discover His Son Is Accused Terrorist

2023-08-22

The arrest of the son in question was reported here a week ago, when much was made of the fact that the lad had been in contact with the Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad faction of Al Nusra in Syria, which is made up of Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs — nothing at all to do with the spoilt kid of an Moslem African-American politician.

[PJMedia] After an extensive terrorism investigation in Philadelphia, on Friday, Aug. 11, a jihadi was arrested who was, according to the FBI and Philly officials, planning major jihad massacres, not just in Philadelphia, but around the nation. He had access to guns and was building bombs. Adding to the shock of this was the fact that the young man who was arrested was only seventeen years old, and yet he now stands accused of plotting what the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said was "the most serious alleged terrorist activity prosecuted in Philadelphia County court in recent history." Even more shocking, it later came to light that he is the son of one of the most prominent criminal defense attorneys in Philadelphia.

The accused terror plotter was arrested at the home of Qawi Abdul-Rahman,

... lawyer, wannabe judge so he could put his thumb on the scales for his people, father of three teenagers, loudly proud to be a child of the US Air Force and the Philadelphia projects — but he lives in the intersection of activist Islam and Black Lives Matter...

a prominent Philadelphia criminal defense attorney who just ran for a seat as a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge. In a "vote for ten" election on May 16, Abdul-Rahman finished fourteenth, with 3.88% of the vote. In a campaign video, Abdul-Rahman wears a djellaba, a flowing robe that is common in North Africa but usually worn in America only by Moslems who are extremely devout. His forehead also sports a superbly prominent zebiba, a dark mark caused by performing the repeated prostrations that are called for in Islamic prayer, and that is generally understood to be a sign of extraordinary piety.

In a Wednesday report in the Daily Beast, however, Abdul-Rahman admitted that it was indeed his son who had been arrested and professed amazement, staking out the position that he had little or no knowledge of what his son had been up to. He said he was "shocked and devastated" by his son’s arrest; the Beast noted that the young man has been "charged with arson, criminal conspiracy, weapons of mass destruction, and risking catastrophe, among other accusations." Abdul-Rahman insisted, "I didn’t see it coming at all. At all. I go to court because I want people to know that Moslems are out here doing things in the community, for the community. I’m an American like everyone else."

That is exactly what the Philadelphia DA’s office wants people to know as well. In a Monday blurb, it was most concerned with doing all it could to ensure that no one got the idea that this young man’s jihad plot had anything to do with Islam: "The work of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force potentially thwarted a catastrophic terrorist attack in the name of a perverted ideology that in no way, shape, or form represents the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of peace-seeking people of faith, including Moslems."

This kind of thing has become drearily pro forma after every jihad attack and foiled plot, but in this particular case it’s especially unhelpful. Qawi Abdul-Rahman’s judge campaign page features another video that proclaims that "Black Judges Matter." In that video, he complains of judges who don’t give him and his clients the same attention and care they give to his "white counterparts." He complained about judges and court staff "looking at us as if we don’t belong."

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung...
Abdul-Rahman has adopted a religion that calls for warfare against unbelievers (cf. Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, 9:5, 9:29, 47:4, etc.) and features many prominent global leaders (such as Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei) who view the United States as a hostile power against which Moslems are or should be in a state of war.

Imagine growing up in a household where such views are frequently aired (which is not to say they necessarily are in Abdul-Rahman’s house). We have seen the combination of the left’s hostility toward the U.S. and Islam’s jihad against America before, notably in Urooj Rahman, a Moslem lawyer in New York City who threw a Molotov cocktail into a police car during the Saint George Floyd

...The patron saint of Minneapolis...
riots.

Philadelphia officials are insisting that their young terror suspect was "radicalized on the Internet" and that his plans had nothing to do with Islam, but is anyone there looking into the possibility that his determination to strike against America arose from sources closer to home? Or is such a suggestion so far out of the bounds of our leftist-dominated public discourse today that Philly officials wouldn’t dare even allow themselves to think it? Has no one considered the fact that all the hateful and divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
rhetoric pouring forth from the left, as well as from some Moslem leaders, is inevitably going to be taken seriously by someone?

Link

Home Front: WoT

Philadelphia teen charged with plotting potentially 'catastrophic terrorist attack'

2023-08-15

[NYPOST] A Philadelphia teenager has been charged with plotting a potentially "catastrophic terrorist attack" after federal authorities discovered the teen had been allegedly communicating with an al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group and gathering bomb-making material.

The 17-year-old was taken into custody by FBI SWAT officers at his home in West Philadelphia on Aug. 11 after an investigation headed by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, officials revealed Monday.

The unnamed teen is suspected to have been in contact with Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad,

...the Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China...

an organization designated as a global terrorist group by the State Department in 2022.

The group, which has links to al Qaeda, primarily operates in Syria’s Idlib Province but is also believed to be responsible for the April 2017 metro attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and an August 2016 suicide boom-mobileing outside the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The juvenile allegedly received guidance from the terror group on how to construct improvised bombs and FBI agents observed the teen purchasing bomb-making materials and "outdoor or tactical gear" before his arrest.

"The work of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force potentially thwarted a catastrophic terrorist attack in the name of a perverted ideology that in no way, shape, or form represents the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of peace-seeking people of faith, including Moslems," Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Monday.

"The charges we have filed against this individual represent the most serious alleged terrorist activity prosecuted in Philadelphia County court in recent history. We intend to pursue full accountability for these crimes and will continue to work vigilantly with our law enforcement partners to protect all of our communities from hateful, ideologically driven acts of violence," he added.

The suspect, who wasn’t named by officials because of his status as a juvenile, will avoid federal charges for now. US attorney offices generally do not handle juvenile cases, even those related to terrorism.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office will file a motion to prosecute the suspect as an adult and charges could be escalated to the federal level as the investigation continues, Krasner said Monday.

The teenager has been charged with weapons of mass destruction, criminal conspiracy, arson, causing/risking catastrophe, attempt to commit criminal mischief, possession of an instrument of crime, and recklessly endangering another person.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire said Monday that the teenager "appeared to be taking steps to travel overseas for the purpose of joining, or supporting, terrorist activity."

"Most concerning however, was the evidence that he had access to firearms and had purchased items and materials commonly used in the construction of improvised bombs," McGuire said.

In the last few weeks, the suspect had allegedly been surveilled purchasing tactical equipment, chemicals, wiring, and devices that could be used as remote detonators.

On Aug. 8, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection also provided records to authorities which revealed 14 international shipments of military and tactical gear to the juvenile’s address.

"I think it’s very fair to say that lives were saved because of this investigation," McGuire added.

A 2018 bulletin from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warns that teenagers are "particularly vulnerable" to being radicalized by terror groups that often gear their messaging toward youths, and plots and attacks by minors in the US and abroad are "likely to endure."

"ISIS and al-Qa’ida continue to influence minors through online messaging to plan and conduct attacks," the DNI memo states. "For example, in October 2018, the al-Abd al-Faqir Media Foundation—a pro-ISIS media outfit—launched its first Arabic-language magazine titled ’Youth Of The Caliphate,’ aimed at young supporters."

The missive to law enforcement notes that there were "few identifiable behaviors that raised suspicion or concern" in several terrorism cases involving minors, underscoring the challenge law enforcement face in identifying juvenile terrorists.

"Violent bad boys’ use or encouragement of minors to conduct attacks probably stems in part from their desire to influence impressionable supporters and circumvent CT security measures that monitor for suspicious activities conducted by adults," the DNI note states.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Resident of Adygeya convicted of recruiting into a terrorist organization

2022-12-18

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Farhod Zhuraev, a resident of Adygeya,

...an autonomous republic in the northwest Caucasus whose population is mostly Moslem...

was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony, whom the court found guilty of recruiting citizens into the terrorist organization "Katiba Taukhid val-Jihad."

Also spelt Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad. The Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found a resident of Adygeya guilty of recruiting citizens into an international terrorist organization.

The court found that Farhod Zhuraev, from August to October 2020, took part in the activities of Katiba Tawhid wal-Jihad, in particular, he contacted via the Internet with a member of the organization who lived in Volgograd, Kommersant writes on December 16 with the link to the management of the FSB of Russia in Adygea.

Zhuraev repeatedly talked with the inhabitants of Adygea, tried to recruit them to participate in the mentioned organization, and justified terrorist activities. In addition, on his page on the social network, the convict posted videos and audio recordings justifying violent acts on religious grounds, called for extremist and terrorist activities.

The court found Zhuraev guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The verdict has entered into force.

Zhuraev was charged under part 2 of article 280 (public calls for extremist activities), part 2 of article 205.2 (public calls for terrorist activities), part 1.1 of article 205.1 (assistance in terrorist activities) and part 2 of article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in activities terrorist organization), according to the file on the website of the court.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" wrote that in March 2021, a native of Central Asia , a supporter of a terrorist organization, was detained. He confessed to preparing a terrorist act in the center of Maikop.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Washington places KTJ on terrorism list

2022-03-09

#US designated Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad that fights alongside #HTS as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. #Syria @StateDept https://t.co/xftvTfxcfH
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) March 8, 2022

IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – US designated on Monday Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) which fights alongside Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) and cooperates with other designated terrorist groups in northwest Syria as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to Executive Order 13224.

The KTJ entered to the Syrian territory in mid-2012 with the goal to fight the Syrian government forces, exclusive source told North Press.

KTJ worked independently for years before joining the fight alongside HTS that spread its power over Idlib and other parts in the countryside of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia, according to the sources.

The sources noted that the number of members of the KTJ ranks between 800 and 1000 lead by a foreigner known as Jundallah al-Uzbeki.

Most of the members are Uzbeks and Tajiks who mainly deploy in al-Ghab Plain west of Hama and Jabal al-Akrad north of Latakia, according to the sources.

The KTJ receives special support by parties outside Syria, but nowadays it is receiving direct support by the HTS after it has come under its command and fought alongside it, according to the same sources.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Gaza court gives life terms to 2 killers of Italian activist

2012-09-18

[Al Ahram] Four Paleostinian hardliners were cooled for a few years
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
, two for life, on Monday after a Gazoo military court found them guilty of the kidnap and murder of an Italian peace activist in April 2011.
Mahmud Al-Salfiti and Tamer Al-Husasna were found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Vittorio Arrigoni and each sentenced by the court in the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-ruled enclave to life imprisonment.

Another member of the Salafist group, Khadr Faruk Jerim, received a 10-year prison term for kidnapping the Italian while a fourth, Amer Abu Ghola, was cooled for a few years
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
for a year for providing the house in which Arrigoni was found hanged.

The tribunal also ordered to dismiss Salfiti, Husasna and Jerim from the police force they served on. Abu Ghola is a fisherman.

Arrigoni, 36, a long-time member of the pro-Paleostinian International Solidarity Movement, was kidnapped on April 14, 2011.

Shortly after his disappearance, a previously-unknown Salafist group released a YouTube video showing a bruised and bloodied Arrigoni and threatened to kill him within 30 hours if Hamas failed to release a group of jihadist prisoners.

Hamas security forces found Arrigoni's body shortly afterwards, ahead of the stated deadline, in an abandoned house in northern Gazoo.

Among those held by Hamas the group demanded be freed was Sheikh Hisham Al-Saedini, a leader of the Salafist group Tawhid wal Jihad. He was eventually released last month following Jordanian intervention.

Hamas quickly incarcerated
You have the right to remain silent...
several suspects in the case, and a week later raided a house where three more suspects were reportedly hiding.

Two were killed during the raid, and a third was taken into custody.

Arrigoni's death shocked the local community and international aid workers and activists in Gazoo, where he had lived and worked for much of the three years prior to his death. His murder was the first of a foreigner in Gazoo since Hamas took over in 2007.

Link

Africa North

Egypt Sentences 14 Islamists to Hang for Sinai Attacks

2012-08-15

[An Nahar] An Egyptian court sentenced 14 Islamists to death on Tuesday for the 2011 murder of seven people at a bank and a police post in the Sinai Peninsula, scene of mounting violence near the border with Israel.

The court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya convicted the 14 of carrying out the attacks in June and July last year on behalf of the hardline group Tawhid wal Jihad (Monotheism and Holy War).

One civilian was among the dead.

The verdict came amid a massive crackdown by the army on growing lawlessness in the Sinai since the overthrow of veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
in February last year.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Media Matters: On Fox News Sunday, Hume falsely asserted that Al Qaeda in Iraq 'was there before we got there'

2007-09-10

Summary: On Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume asked Juan Williams, "Who are we fighting there [in Iraq] now, Juan?" then answered his own question: "Al Qaeda in Iraq. They were there before we got there, and they're there now." In fact, U.S. military and intelligence officials have reportedly stated that Al Qaeda in Iraq didn't exist before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, didn't pledge its loyalty to Osama bin Laden until October 2004, and isn't controlled by bin Laden or his top aides.

That's a pretty distorted picture Media Matters is drawing. It's intentionally distorted, of course, aimed at people who don't pay attention.

Let us take a few moments to drift back in time, to those thrilling days of yesteryear, before Zark changed the name of Tawhid wal Jihad to al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Tawhid, as those of us who have been looking at things besides Britney's caesarean scar know, was Zark's personal terror organization, originally established to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy and replace it with a caliphate or something. And sonofagun but al-Tawhid was also an integral part of Ansar al-Islam. We, on this very website, watched as Ansar al-Islam devolved from its earlier incarnation, Jund al-Islam, which in its turn had been planted in the hills of ~~Beverly~~ Kurdistan in September, 2001, which some of us consider a significant date. Jund al-Islam's al-Qaeda controller was none other than Abu Zubaydah, the second of a string of Qaeda Numbah Threes to fall on hard times.

Zark was at that time maintaining al-Tawhid as distinct from al-Qaeda. The first reference I can find to it on Rantburg is from April, 2002, when the Germans arrested 11 al-Tawhid members plotting attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets within their country. Abu Qatadah, al-Qaeda's "ambassador in Europe" was described as the group's spiritual guide. He and Zark were the organization's co-founders.

Zark's day job, when he wasn't heading his own international terror organization, was as a camp commander in Afghanistan - near Herat, if I remember correctly. That was, of course, an al-Qaeda camp. But, really, other than those few things, there's not that much evidence connecting the Iraq organization with al-Qaeda.

But, but.... Richard Perle! PNAC!

Further, the 9-11 Commission found "no evidence" that contacts between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda "developed into a collaborative operational relationship" before the Iraq invasion.

Apparently they either didn't look too closely at Sammy's relationship with Ansar al-Islam or they rather legalistically didn't consider Ansar al-Islam to be al-Qaeda associated; at the time it wasn't, quite, functioning rather as an allied element, like GSPC, and being made up of several other elements besides al-Tawhid.

Dick Cheney!

On the September 9 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, following National Public Radio senior correspondent and Fox News contributor Juan Williams' statement that "the war in Iraq is serving as a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda, creating this group Al Qaeda in Iraq where it might not otherwise exist," Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume asserted: "That's the whole argument that you've heard all along: you better not go and take these people on in any way because it only stirs them up and creates more of them. I don't buy it."

It's the "don't resist, you'll just make it worse" argument.

Later, Hume stated, "We were also going [to Iraq] because we believed there was a terrorist connection," to which Williams replied: "And they never proved the terrorist connection, Brit."

Two words; Salman Pak. Two more words: Abu Nidal. Need two more? Abu Abbas. A few more words? Mujaheddin e-Khalq. Palestine Liberation Front. We cold go on, you know.

Prescott Bush and NAZIS!

Hume then asked: "Who are we fighting there now, Juan?" and answered his own question: "Al Qaeda in Iraq. They were there before we got there, and they're there now."

They were there before we got there. They've evolved some, and they've formed alliances with the domestic terrorist cooties. They're still the same bunch, still the same idea.

However, contrary to Hume's claim that Al Qaeda in Iraq was "there before we got there," a June 28 McClatchy Newspapers article reported that "U.S. military and intelligence officials" say "[t]he group known as al Qaida in Iraq didn't exist before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, didn't pledge its loyalty to al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden until October 2004 and isn't controlled by bin Laden or his top aides," as Media Matters for America noted.

Maybe the McClatchy Newspapers need to hire somebody who knows something about the subject.

NEOCREEPYCONS!

Media Matters has also repeatedly noted (most recently here) that the 9-11 Commission found "no evidence" that contacts between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda "developed into a collaborative operational relationship" before the 2003 invasion. Several other purported pre-war links between Iraq and Al Qaeda have also been debunked.

Like Zark being in Baghdad prior to the outbreak of hostilities? Like Saif al-Adel being the guy in overall charge of Qaeda ops in Iraq? All this stuff is from open source, you know.

Katrina! Cryptkeeper Karl! Valerie Plame, martyred by a desperate and cornered rabid administration!

Further, as Think Progress noted, a September 6 report from the Congressional Research Service stated that "most of the daily attacks [in Iraq] are carried out by Iraqi Sunni insurgents," not members of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Which doesn't address the question. The fact that the cannon fodder is the locals has nothing to do with who's in charge in the rarified upper echelons of the Islamic State of Iraq. Nor does it have anything to do with the alliances of that same Islamic State of Iraq.

Plastic turkey?

Link

Africa North

Egypt finds explosives cache in Sinai Peninsula

2007-01-15

Egyptian security forces discovered a cache of explosives on Sunday in the Sinai Peninsula, where bomb attacks have killed more than 100 people since 2004, security sources said. The cache consisted of at least 500 kg (1,100 lb) of TNT hidden in two gas containers and large plastic bags and was found in the desert area near al-Arish, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the sources said.

They said the explosives were discovered after a tip-off and no arrests had been made. "We received information that some elements were concealing large quantities of explosives," one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Egypt has blamed the Sinai attacks, the last of which took place in April, on an Islamist militant group called al-Tawhid wal Jihad (One God and Jihad) and says the group is made up of Sinai Bedouin with militant views.

Link

Africa North

Egypt: Government urged to revise death sentence

2006-12-14

(SomaliNet) Egypts government has been urged to revise the death sentence awarded to the men found guilty of involvement of the Sinai bombings in 2004. "President Hosni Mubarak should immediately order a retrial for three men convicted of playing a role in the October 2004 terrorist attacks in the Sinai resort town of Taba," Human Rights Watch said.
Is it Ramadan again already?
Not yet, but HRW remains HRW...
The New York based body cited irregularities in the trial that saw the three men sentenced to death. "Serious allegations of torture and forced confessions, as well as prolonged incommunicado detention and lack of consultation with counsel, raise significant doubts about the fairness of the trial," the group said.
Ummm... Any opinion on the accuracy of the verdict?
Sinai witnessed three bombings in October 2004, which resulted in 34 deaths.
None of them were fair, either...
... and no Ramadan pardons for the dead victims ...
The accused trio are allegedly members of Al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War), according to Egypts government. Many Human Rights activists have come up to battle against the death sentence in Egypt, though it has remained legal.

Link

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