The following is a review of the reports that the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) published during the week of February 4-11, 2023
The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock, among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.)
Following U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement that Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurayshi has been "removed" in a raid conducted by U.S. special forces in northern Syria, supporters of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) continue to react to Al-Qurayshi's death. ISIS and its supporters refrained from confirming reports about Al-Qurayshi's death, while supporters of ISIS's rival group Al-Qaeda published posts speculating that a dispute will rise within ISIS's ranks over naming a new leader. Meanwhile, an HTS official responded for the first time to criticism leveled against the jihadi group, which largely controls Idlib, for not stopping the U.S. operation, in which Muslims were killed, by accusing those critics of serving foreign intelligence agencies.
Qurayshi presided over a much diminished force, a shadow of the group that at its height in 2015 presided over a swath of territory the size of Britain.