Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Jabhat al-Nuṣrah — “Attack Upon the Strongholds of the Shabīḥah in the Village of al-Rahjān in Rural Ḥamāh and Striking It With Two Martyrdom Operations”
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Month: January 2014
New video message from Himam News Agency: “Report 53: A Tour of One of the Schools of Jabhat al-Nuṣrah For the Education of the Children – Besieged Ḥomṣ"
NOTE: For previous parts in this video series see: #52, #51, #50, #49, #48, #47, #46, #45, #44, #43, #42, #41, #40, #39, #38, #37, #36, #35, #34, #33, #32, #31, #30, #29, #28, #27, #26, #25, #24, #23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, #4, #3, #2, and #1.
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New statement from Jamā’at Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis: "Declaration of Responsibility For the Assassination of An Aide in the Interior Ministry the Criminal Apostate Muḥammad al-Sa'īd"
UPDATE 2/2/14 9:42 AM: Here is an English translation of the below Arabic statement:
Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Jamā’at Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis — “Declaration of Responsibility For the Assassination of An Aide in the Interior Ministry the Criminal Apostate Muḥammad al-Sa’īd” (En)
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Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Jamā’at Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis — “Declaration of Responsibility For the Assassination of An Aide in the Interior Ministry the Criminal Apostate Muḥammad al-Sa’īd”
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New statement from Jamā'at Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis: "Declaration of Responsibility For the Targeting of the Gas Export Line to Jordan"
UPDATE 2/2/14 9:38 AM: Here is an English translation of the below Arabic statement:
Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Jamā’at Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis — “Declaration of Responsibility For the Targeting of the Gas Export Line to Jordan” (En)
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Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Jamā’at Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis — “Declaration of Responsibility For the Targeting of the Gas Export Line to Jordan”
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al-Katāi'b New Channel presents a new video message from Ḥarakat al-Shabāb al-Mujāhidīn: “Distribution of Zakāt of Cattle to Intended Recipients in the Regions of Bay and Bakool"
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New article from Dr. Iyād Qunaybī: "Discussion in Response to the [Islamic] State on Mubādarah al-Ummah"
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‘Umar Studio presents a new video message from Teḥrīk-ī-Ṭālibān Pākistān: “The Battle of Hind #4"
NOTE: For other parts in this video see: #6, #3, and #2.
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GUEST POST: Azerbaijani Foreign Fighters in Syria
NOTE: As with all guest posts, the opinions expressed below are those of the guest author and they do not necessarily represent the views of this blogs administrator and does not at all represent his employer at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Jihadology.net aims to not only provide primary sources for researchers and occasional analysis of them, but also to allow other young and upcoming students as well as established academics or policy wonks to contribute original analysis on issues related to jihadism. If you would like to contribute a piece, please email your idea/post to azelin [at] jihadology [dot] net.
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Azerbaijani Foreign Fighters in Syria
By North Caucasus Caucus
Introduction
Figure 1. An Azerbaijani fighter stands next to a captured tanker truck from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) in Syria, Source: APA
Stories about Azerbaijanis fighting in Syria have appeared semi-regularly in the Azerbaijani media throughout 2013. Recent events have unleashed a flood of commentary, however, with at least seven Azerbaijanis killed during fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and the Islamic Front on 03 – 04 January 2014, including a 14-year-old boy from Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan. Now many political and religious pundits in the country have commented on or turned their attention to Azerbaijanis going to fight in Syria. The Azerbaijani government is beginning to take more public actions.
Terrorism and religious extremism have always remained marginal issues in Azerbaijan’s domestic politics, and accurate information is difficult to come by. Many of the details about plots and alleged plots often come from court reporting or detailed statements put out by the Ministry of National Security (MNS). The Azerbaijani government often overplays terrorism cases, in part as a way to solicit cooperation from the United States and other western countries.
The civil war in Syria is far different than previous conflicts in which Azerbaijanis have participated. For the first time, Azerbaijani fighters are speaking directly to audiences within Azerbaijan and elsewhere through videos and posts in social media. They are even able to interact continuously with their friends in Azerbaijan. No longer are researchers reliant solely on court documents or televised confessions, the validity of which are sometimes questionable. With more primary source material, an interesting and more richly detailed picture is emerging.
History of Azerbaijani Jihadi Activity: Afghanistan and Chechnya
Azerbaijanis have participated in a number of conflicts around the world – most notably in Chechnya and Afghanistan (though the author has found no reports of Azerbaijanis fighting in Iraq). Azerbaijan’s population of nine million is approximately 60% Shi’a and 40% Sunni and has overall low levels of religiosity. It comes as a surprise to most Azerbaijanis that their countrymen would participate in jihad.
The MNS arrested 70 Azerbaijani citizens between 2001-2003 for attempting to travel to Chechnya. In a list complied by the author—based on media reports and video montages of Azerbaijani martyrs put out by extremist media outlets—between 1999 and 2013, at least 33 Azerbaijanis died in the North Caucasus, mainly during the years of the heaviest fighting (1999-2005), and at least 23 Azerbaijanis were killed in Afghanistan (including at least one suicide bomber). 200-250 Azerbaijanis reportedly fought in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2009, Azerbaijani police arrested 13 people for illegally crossing the border back into Azerbaijan from Iran after reportedly fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Figure 2. Left: INTERPOL released a red arrest notice for Jabir Mustafayev for terrorism charges; Right: Mustafayev appeared in a video honoring all the Azerbaijani fighters killed abroad in the period of 2007-2009, Source: YouTube
Azerbaijanis were even represented in the leadership of some prominent groups in Afghanistan and the North Caucasus. Azer Misirxanov aka Ebu Omer, who was killed in a US airstrike in 2009, was a high-ranking member of Taifetul Mansura in Afghanistan, led by Serdal Erbasi (aka Ebu zer), a Turkish citizen. Misirxanov, originally from the village of Khalafli in Jebrail District, had previously fought in the North Caucasus and was even arrested in 2001 but was released after only a year in prison for unknown reasons.
Figure 3. Azer Misirxanov (aka Emir Ebu Omer, right) appears with Serdal Erbasi in a 2009 video, Source: YouTube
First Appearance of Azerbaijani Fighters in Syria: Late 2012
The first report of an Azerbaijani fighter in Syria came in mid-August 2012 from a French journalist reporting in Aleppo. A Turkish war correspondent taken prisoner in Syria in May 2012 also reported seeing Azerbaijanis fighting with the Free Syrian Army.
The first concrete cases were in fall 2012. According to identification documents, including a passport and driver’s license that were photographed and posted online, Zaur Islamov was 37 years old and from the northern Azerbaijani city of Qusar, which borders Dagestan. The earliest known posting of Islamov’s photos was on 9 September 2012 on the forum, Shabka Ansar al-Mujahideen (Mujahideen Supporters’ Network). Islamov’s name was also included on a pro-Assad Facebook page listing “terrorists” killed in various battles. At least one of the Azerbaijani fighters killed in Syria was part of Azer Misirxanov’s group in Afghanistan. In 2009, an Azerbaijani court sentenced Araz Kangarli to two and half years in prison for illegally crossing the border between Azerbaijan and Iran, weapons possession, participation in an illegal armed group for two months in 2008, and committing an illegal act overseas. He only served one year before being released and in November 2012 his mother received a phone call that her son had been killed.
In Press Medya, a Turkish pro-Syrian opposition news website, released photos of four Azerbaijani fighters killed in battle and several photos of living fighters. These pictures made it clear that more than just a handful of Azerbaijanis were in Syria. Since the end of 2012, reportedly around 100 Azerbaijanis have been killed in Syria. Based on media reports and postings by jihadi media outlets, the author has recorded 41 Azerbaijanis who have fought in Syria, 30 of whom were killed. Of course, the participation of many fighters is never recorded.
Where do they come from?
For a researcher on violent extremist groups in Azerbaijan, the hometowns of many of the fighters in Syria do not come as a surprise. They line up with the hometowns of Azerbaijanis who have fought in Chechnya or Afghanistan, as well as the locations of counter-terrorism operations within the country.
Based on media reporting and the author’s own database of biographical data, Azerbaijanis fighting in Syria primarily come from Baku, Sumqayit, and smaller towns in northern Azerbaijan such as Qusar, Xudat, Xacmaz, Zaqatala, and Qax. Press reporting has mentioned specifically the villages of Kohne Xacmaz, Muxax in Zaqatala District and the village of Quhuroba in Xacmaz District as being important hometowns of foreign fighters. An article in the newspaper Musavat claimed that around 30 fighters came from Muxax alone. At least one fighter came from Terter (where in December 2008, three men wearing military uniforms attacked a military post in order to seize weapons for use in terrorist attacks). Sumqayit, the large industrial city just north of Baku, appears to be the most important source of Azerbaijani foreign fighters.
Connections of Hometowns of Foreign Fighters to Previous Terrorism
Figure 4. Map of Foreign Fighters Hometowns, Source: Google Maps
Sumqayit
Sumqayit has played a role in nearly every story on terrorism in Azerbaijan. In 2007, police claimed they broke up a group based in Sumqayit known as the “Abu Jafar” group. It was reportedly led by Naielm Abdul Kerim al-Bedevi, a Saudi citizen. Azerbaijani security services reported that al-Bedevi had been living in Sumqayit since 2001 and had travelled repeatedly to the North Caucasus.
In 2008, Russian and Azerbaijani media reported that Ilgar Mollachiyev helped establish a branch of the Dagestani “Forest Brothers” in Azerbaijan, creating two jamaats – one in Sumqayit and the other in Quba/Qusar. According to two alleged members of the group, Taleh Maherramov and Samir Babayev, Mollachiyev illegally crossed into Azerbaijan from Russia on 19 July 2008 along with an Arab known as “Dr. Muhammed,” traveling to Baku and Sumqayit. In August 2008, Mekhtiyev ordered Elnur Bashirov and another member of the group to attack the Abu Bakr Mosque, the most popular Sunni mosque in Azerbaijan (which has remained closed since the attack). The attack sparked a huge response from Azerbaijani security services against the pious Sunni community as a whole.
The Sumqayit jamaat was supposed to carry out robberies in Baku in order to gather the means to obtain weapons in order to commit attacks. A reported member of Emin Shikhaliyev explained during his trial that the Sumgayit jamaat was created not in order to commit crimes in Azerbaijan, but rather to provide help to the mujahideen in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
Members of the group in September-November 2008 visited the village in Balakan District on the border with Georgia where
New release from Fursān al-Balāgh Media: "Monthly Indexing of the Releases of the Jihādī Media Organizations For the Month of December 2013"
Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Fursān al-Balāgh Media — “Monthly Indexing of the Releases of the Jihādī Media Organizations For the Month of December 2013”
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al-Manārah al-Bayḍā' Foundation for Media Production presents a new video message from Jabhah al-Nuṣrah: "Liberating the National Hospital – Area of Jāsim, Dar’ā"
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