INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 7/24/2015, ISIS in AfPak, Propaganda, Turkey, Chattanooga and More

PODCASTS

Jihadology Podcast: The Emergence of the Islamic State in AfPak with Don Rassler (Part 1)
Jihadology Podcast: The Emergence of the Islamic State in AfPak with Don Rassler (Part 2)
A two-part interview with Don Rassler based on his article “Situating the Emergence of the Islamic State of Khorasan,” for the CTC Sentinel. By Aaron Zelin with Don Rassler.

Middle East Week: Islamic State's Propaganda Strategy
The basis for discussion is Charlie Winter's recent paper "The Virtual Caliphate: Understanding Islamic State's Propaganda Strategy". By Karl Morand with Charlie Winter.

ISIS WATCH

ISIS Transforming Into Functioning State That Uses Terror as Tool
Increasingly, as it holds that territory and builds a capacity to govern, the group is transforming into a functioning state that uses extreme violence — terror — as a tool.

How One Young Woman Went From Fundamentalist Christian To ISIS Bride
How did a homeschooled, evangelical Christian from Chattanooga become an ISIS wife and mother?

Suicide Bomber in Suruc Is Said to Be a Turk With Possible Ties to ISIS
The suicide bomber who killed at least 32 people at a cultural center in southeastern Turkey has been identified as a Turkish citizen who is believed to have had ties to the Islamic State, a senior government official said Wednesday.

Turkey arrests 251 suspected militants
Turkey has arrested 251 after launching simultaneous raids targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Kurdish militants in 13 provinces across the country on Friday, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Saudi arrests 431 ISIS-linked suspects
Saudi Arabia arrested 431 people as part of a crackdown on a cluster of cells linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, the kingdom’s Ministry of Interior (MOI) said.

Boko Haram violence triggers refugee crisis in Niger
Terrorist attacks and atrocities committed by Islamist militant group Boko Haram have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.

Italy Arrests 2 Men Accused of Planning Terrorist Attacks
The Italian police on Wednesday arrested two men accused of plotting attacks on national landmarks in Italy and of posting threatening messages online in support of the Islamic State.

U.S.-Trained Iraqi Troops Deployed to Help Retake Ramadi From ISIS
Around 3,000 newly American-trained Iraqi troops, along with 500 trained Sunni tribal fighters, have been deployed to help in an expected government offensive to retake the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi from Islamic State militants, Pentagon officials said during a trip to Baghdad on Thursday.

D.C.’s New Push: Use Saddam’s Men to Fight Obama’s ISIS War
An ex-senator, a former CIA officer, and an Iraqi mogul lobby Congress for a private army, led by Saddam’s officers, to take on the terrorists that have trampled America’s proxies.

TERROR WATCH

Chattanooga Shooter Researched Religious Justification For Violence
The gunman who killed five American troops in a Chattanooga shooting spree last week did online research for militant Islamist "guidance" on committing violence. But there is no evidence so far that Mohammod Abdulazeez, 24 -- whose family insists he was deeply troubled and mentally ill -- was inspired by or directed by ISIS.

Tennessee Is the Capital of American Jihad
Long before the five U.S. service members were murdered this past week in Chattanooga, before the Boston Marathon bombers, the Fort Hood shooting or the rise of the Islamic State, it was another troubled teenager from the same state who embarked on a journey of jihad and ended in the first deadly terrorist attack on U.S. soil after 9/11.

The Vegas Plot
In the world of right-wing extremism, how do you tell who is dangerous?

Channel Project under fire after conviction of Britain youngest terrorist
Britain’s counter-radicalisation programmes are under the spotlight again after it emerged that Britain’s youngest terrorist was first referred to one two years ago.

Destroying Homes for Kurdistan
Diplomats and human rights workers claim that America’s closest ally in Iraq is engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing designed to push Arabs out of the future Kurdish state.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The Disengagement of Indonesian Jihadists: Understanding the Pathways
Utilizing original fieldwork conducted between 2010 and 2014, with fifty current and former members of Islamist extremist groups in Indonesia, this article will unpack the patterns, pathways, religious considerations, and psychological processes that propel individual militants to turn away from violence. By Julie Chernov Hwang.

Buy the new book ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger.

Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam

Labels: Weekly-Brief

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