About MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM)

MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) scrutinizes Islamist terrorism and fundamentalism worldwide, with a special focus on the Arab world, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. By monitoring imminent and potential strategic, tactical, ideological, military, and conventional and non-conventional threats to public safety and security, and to crucial interests and assets of states targeted by terrorism, as well as emerging trends, it enables those under threat to effectively address and confront these threats.

The JTTM focuses on threats posed by various terror and fundamentalist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda and its franchises, as well as by individuals ("wanna-be" jihadis) and emerging Islamist groups in these regions.

JTTM translations and analysis feature open-source and password-protected intelligence gathered from sources monitored around the clock, including:

• Online media: First-tier Al-Qaeda websites, as well as dozens of the most important Islamist sites and blogs. Also, social media sites, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
• Printed media: From all Arab countries, as well as the Arabic-language London dailies and magazines; also from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Turkey.
• Visual media: TV channels from the Arab world and Iran, as well as jihadi videos posted online from all over the world.
• Audio media: Audio releases from terror and Islamist organizations, as well as radio broadcasts from the Arab world and from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The JTTM Website will include the following sections:

• Alert Planning & Training (APT)
• Global Jihad News (GJN)
• Jihadi Texts (JT)
• In-Depth Threat Analysis (IDA)
• Global Jihad – Opposition & Dissent

JTTM content focuses on the following:

• Threats to Western strategic and economic interests:
  • Electronic jihad, such as cyber attacks on databases and systems of financial, military and government bodies
  • Oil facilities and transportation, such as sea ports and the Strait of Hormuz
  • Civil infrastructure, such as water systems, power grids, gas pipelines
• Threats to Western military forces worldwide:
  • Instructional videos and manuals on identifying and targeting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
  • Manuals and videos on manufacturing and using IEDs.
  • Instructions for using technologies such as Google Earth and WikiMapia to assess possible vulnerabilities of U.S. military bases
  • Threats against U.S. civilian administrations and Western companies and organizations and their employees in the Middle East
• Development of jihadis' military and technological knowhow:
  • Manuals on manufacturing and using explosives, including household chemicals, poisons, booby-traps, light weaponry, etc.
  • Texts and videos for training terrorists to plan and carry out attacks
  • Guides for manufacturing WMDs
• New ideological trends and major ideological debates within the jihadist camp:
  • Changes in fundamental traditional notions, such as religious legitimacy and legitimate leadership
  • The ongoing debate over the religious boundaries of permissible jihad against infidels, including the killing of civilians and the use of WMDs. Opposition, dissent, and conflict within the jihad camp
  • Renunciation of jihad by major Islamist groups and prominent jihad leaders
• The global jihad network:
  • Information about existing and new jihad organizations
  • Emerging alliances among various jihad groups
  • Collaboration between combatant and non-combatant jihadis, such as those engaging in media jihad
  • Transition of individuals from online ("keyboard") jihad to "jihad by the sword"
  • State-planned and state-sponsored terrorism, such as Iranian suicide units and suicide boats in the Persian Gulf.
• News from the various jihad fronts