SITE distinctively combines human intelligence coupled with real-time data feeds of terrorist/extremist information via two major offerings, SITE Enterprise finished intelligence products and Source/SearchFeed, the world’s largest indexed and searchable database of confirmed terrorists and extremist content.
@real_rita_katz:
Amid what has been a sustained uptick in attack frequency in Syria since the outset of 2024 (118 communiques vs 41 in the same period of 2023), ISIS claimed its first suicide bombing in the country since September 2022 - a VBIED blast on SDF HQ in Deir al-Zour. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/is-claims-23-casualties-among-sdf-in-suicide-bombing-at-hq-in-deir-al-zour.html#ges:searchword%3Dsuicide%2Bsyria%2Ban-naba%26searchphrase%3Dall%26orderby%3Dnewest%26page%3D1
@real_rita_katz:
ISIS' West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed killing 20 Nigerien soldiers in a minefield it planted in Diffa, eastern Niger, SITE Intelligence Group reports. The ISIS fighters planted a chain of nine IEDs and detonated them on the Nigerien soldiers within 24 hours, killing 20 and wounding others, the group claimed on May 12. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/iswap-claims-20-nigerien-soldiers-killed-in-minefield-in-diffa.html
@real_rita_katz:
A white nationalist group in Arizona claimed having members “embedded” in pro-Palestine demonstrations at Arizona State University, SITE reports. The group didn't specify any motive beyond "monitoring," nor did it provide proof, claiming: "For opsec reasons, we will not be publishing any media regarding these events." https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Far-Right-Far-Left-Threat/arizona-white-nationalists-claim-members-embedded-in-asu-pro-palestine-protests-monitoring-situation-undercover.html
@real_rita_katz:
Our dystopia is now reaching its sitcom-pitch phase: "It’s remarkable, Naftali said, that on the same day, a former police officer could become a Democratic nominee while Republicans could 'select an unrepentant felon' in Evans, who 'proudly displays the fact that he violated the law on Jan. 6.'” January6th https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-jan-6-candidates-congress-7659d9493956919c83adf474259ab303?utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter
@real_rita_katz:
IS Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Taliban convoy in Faizabad, Badakhshan, killing three, SITE Intelligence Group reports. This comes amid an uptick in the country spurred in March by a suicide bombing in Kandahar, and the group's external op on Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/iskp-claims-bombing-on-taliban-convoy-in-badakhshan-s-provincial-capital.html
@real_rita_katz:
Upon agreeing to a proposed ceasefire, Hamas announced that Canadian-Israeli hostage Judih Weinstein died a month prior due to IAF airstrikes.
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
News reports in December 2023 stated that Weinstein, a 70-year-old woman, was fatally wounded with her husband on October 7. However, Hamas claims she survived, received treatment in the Gaza Strip, and recovered, only to be killed months later. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/hamas-alleged-canadian-israeli-hostage-died-due-to-israeli-air-strikes.html?auid=120179
@real_rita_katz:
"The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) resumed strikes on Israel after a 10-day hiatus, claiming five attacks in four days and using advanced cruise missiles for the first time since January 2024," SITE Intelligence Group reports. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/iri-uses-advanced-cruise-missiles-for-1st-time-since-january-in-strikes-on-israel-claims-5-attacks-in-4-days.html
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
Five communiques between May 3 and 6 claimed the attacks used Iran-made al-Arqab advanced cruise missiles, as well as drones and “adequate” weapons. The strikes targeted a “vital target” in Tel Aviv, another “vital target” in the Dead Sea, the Haifa seaport, and a military airbase in Eilat, among other locations, per the communiques.
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
The messages also zero in on divisions among Democrats on the protests and the Israel Hamas War generally. As one propaganda article stated, “Biden's Gaza aid policy is just an electioneering spectacle designed to deceive pro-Palestinian members of the Democrats' base into not defecting to third parties in protest or refusing to vote…”
@real_rita_katz:
Kremlin propagandists are seizing on pro-Palestine protests as part of a larger series of messaging campaigns ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election. English-language articles and social media don’t espouse one single stance on the protests, but instead take several angles. From one end, they claim Biden and the US are “completely bribed and controlled by Israel," but from the other end lament the “double standards” in how the protestors are treated compared to January 6 rioters.
@real_rita_katz:
Kata’ib Hezbollah—the leading member of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) umbrella group—denied a Reuters report implying its potential responsibility for an attack on a US base in Syria, SITE Intelligence Group reports. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/pro-iran-kata-ib-hezbollah-denies-reuters-report-insinuating-responsibility-for-attack-from-iraq-on-us-base-in-syria.html
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
Reuters reported that rockets launched from Iraq struck a US base in northeastern Syria. Reuters mentioned messages from Kata’ib Hezbollah-affiliated channels about resuming attacks after a three-month hiatus, but also that there was no official statement from the group itself. Kata’ib Hezbollah’s April 21 statement emphasized it "did not issue any statement in the last 48 hours" and lamented "fabricated news reported by Reuters Agency, which will be held accountable for it later.”
@real_rita_katz:
Houthi leader Abdul Malik Badruddin al-Houthi lashes out at Arab states for helping Israel intercept Iranian airstrikes, claiming Saudi Arabia and UAE are “serving the enemy." He also promises that attacks in Red Sea and Indian Ocean will continue until Israel halts fighting in Gaza. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/denouncing-arab-states-for-helping-israel-intercept-iranian-ordnance-houthi-leader-confirms-group-to-continue-attacks-until-gaza-aggression-stops.html
@real_rita_katz:
With the news that authorities are treating the recent stabbings at a church in Sydney, Australia as terrorism, we can see another example in what has been a significant uptick in lone-wolf jihad during the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack at this time. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7186395262062403584/
@real_rita_katz:
As it pertains to the increased threat of lone-wolf attacks across the globe, FBI Director Christopher Wray recently stated in a 2025 budget request, "now increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall a couple weeks ago." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-director-concerned-lone-wolf-small-groups-draw/story?id=109109335
@real_rita_katz:
Thread on Iran retaliatory strikes against Israel: The strikes were largely intercepted, confirming what many expected: that the strikes would be a theatrical display instead of a mass-damaging, escalatory provocation. This response is of course is similar to that for the US’ killing of Qasem Soleimani, after which Iran fired rockets at American bases in Iraq, resulting in no casualties.
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
Now comes Tehran’s chest-beating: Iranian outlets are already promoting their latest strikes as effective against Israel's defenses. Meanwhile, Iranian government officials are warning Israel and the US of "immediate" strikes with "double severity" should they choose further confrontation.
@real_rita_katz:
IRGC warns US against harming Iranian interests after firing over 200 drones and missiles at Israel: "The terrorist American government is warned that any support and participation in harming Iran's interests will result in a decisive and rueful response from the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran." https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/announcing-airstrikes-on-israel-irgc-warns-america-of-decisive-response-if-iranian-interests-harmed.html
@real_rita_katz:
Iran has launched dozens of drones and cruise missiles towards Israeli airspace, according reports and U.S. and Israeli officials, in what appears to mark an expected retaliatory attack following a strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/ukmto-receives-report-incident-50nm-northeast-uaes-fujairah-2024-04-13/
@real_rita_katz:
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh expressed defiance after Israeli airstrike killed three of his sons and multiple grandchildren in Gaza. Hamas released written excerpts from Haniyeh's interview with Al-Jazeera: "I thank Allah for this honor that he bestowed upon us with the martyrdom of my three sons and some grandchildren." https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/hamas-political-chief-defiant-in-face-of-losing-sons-grandchildren-in-israeli-airstrike.html
@real_rita_katz:
ISIS, through its al-Furqan Media Foundation, has released a message from spokesman Abu Hudhayfa al-Ansari, marking his first address since January 4, 2024. The speech reiterates calls for lone-wolf attacks in West, particularly against Jews in US/Europe as revenge for the current crisis in Gaza. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/in-new-speech-is-spokesman-celebrates-bloody-moscow-attack-rallies-lone-wolves.html?auid=118256
@real_rita_katz:
Shabaab claimed five separate attacks in Somalia between March 26 and 27, SITE Intelligence Group reports. Among the attacks was one on March 27 in Somalia’s Mudug region, where Shabaab fighters killed and wounded over “65 troops” from the government forces and captured others. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/including-major-raid-on-somali-government-forces-shabaab-claims-5-attacks-in-2-days-killing-and-wounding-over-65.html?auid=118188
@real_rita_katz:
Katz in Brief: Massacre at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall Fitting to ISKP's Calls to Attack Concerts, Other Targets https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Articles-and-Analysis/katz-in-brief-massacre-at-moscow-s-crocus-city-hall-shows-reach-of-isis-khorasan-province.html
@real_rita_katz:
The Crocus City Hall attack bolsters the image ISIS seeks to project to supporters. As I told Washington Post, “For ISIS, these operations are its way of sending a message to the world that it remains a relevant, deadly threat." It also speaks to ISKP's far reach: “Today [ISKP] is a deadly and capable ‘province’ whose tentacles reach across Central Asia, including in regions of former Soviet states." https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/25/isis-k-moscow-terror/
@real_rita_katz:
A day after the report from its ‘Amaq News Agency, ISIS issued a formal communique taking credit for the attack at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/is-issues-formal-communique-for-moscow-concert-hall-operation-reminds-it-does-not-forget-to-take-revenge.html
@real_rita_katz:
Latest on Crocus City Hall attack: Following up on its claim for yesterday's massacre in Russia, ISIS’ ‘Amaq News Agency shared a photo of the four attackers that carried it out, SITE Intelligence Group reports.
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
Citing its "sources," ISIS claimed: “…the attack was carried out by four Islamic State fighters, who were armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives, and incendiary devices, and was preceded by an intensive surveillance operation of the place.” It also stated that “three of them began shooting at the crowd, while the fourth fighter was busy setting fire to the hall using incendiary devices that had been prepared in advance for this purpose.”
@real_rita_katz:
“They’re trolling for a susceptible (and seemingly abundant) slice of citizens who amplify their garbage enough to muddy the waters of our discourse, and from there our policies." My quotes in a thorough New York Times piece on Russian disinformation artists' "increasingly complex fabrications online." https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/business/media/russia-fake-journalists.html
@real_rita_katz:
BREAKING: AQAP announces death of leader Khalid bin Umar Batarfi, and the appointment of his successor, Sa'd bin 'Atef al-Awlaki, SITE Intelligence Group reports. https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-Threat-Statements/aqap-announces-death-of-leader-appointment-of-successor.html
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
In a roughly 15-minute video released today, al-Qaeda veteran Ibrahim al-Qosi (AKA Abu Khubayb al-Sudani) states vaguely, “Allah took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and stood firm, immigrated, garrisoned, and waged jihad for His sake.” He does not elaborate on the cause of death. The video shows Batarfi’s body (show below).
@real_rita_katz:
Wanted to share some links to adapted excerpts from Saints and Soldiers—Grand Prize winner of the Nellie Bly Book Award—on Foreign Policy and Salon. Foreign Policy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/23/far-right-terrorism-white-supremacy-islamic-state/ Salon: https://www.salon.com/2022/10/11/january-6-was-entirely-predictable-it-was-planned-in-broad-daylight/
@real_rita_katz ↩️:
If you haven't read Saints and Soldiers yet, it is available on Amazon and all major book websites. If you have read it (or plan to), I'd love to know what you think! https://www.amazon.com/Saints-Soldiers-Internet-Age-Terrorism-Irregular-ebook/dp/B09M97X69D/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=