Salafi-Jihadi Movement Weekly Update, February 1, 2023 Authors: Data Cutoff: February 1, 2023, at 10 a.m.

These divisions, as well as tensions between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP faction that conducted the attack, could lead this faction to ally itself with the Islamic State’s branch in the region. [...] The US sanctioned Sudani in 2012 under the name Suhayl Salim Abd el Rahman for facilitating foreign fighters’ travel to al Shabaab training camps.14 Sudani had since defected to the Islamic State’s Somalia province (IS-S) and likely led the Islamic State’s administrative office in Somalia, which supported Islamic State affiliates in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Moza. [...] The office has allowed IS-S to play an outsized role in the Islamic State’s administrative network despite the Somalia faction’s small military footprint.15 Assistance included sending trainers to the Islamic State groups in the DRC and Mozambique, which has likely contributed to the growing capabilities of the DRC-based group in recent years.16 Sudani also used operatives in South Africa to trans. [...] The TTP spokesperson later denied responsibility for the attack and reiterated that TTP attacks against mosques are prohibited.21 Pro-TTP social media accounts circulated a fake ISKP statement claiming responsibility for the attack, suggesting some TTP members seek to deflect blame for the attack away from the TTP.22 A pro–Islamic State Telegram account denied ISKP’s involvement in the attack.23 T. [...] The JuA split from the TTP in 2014 but rejoined the group in 2020.24 JuA reportedly opposed peace talks between the TTP and Pakistani government in 2022 and criticized the TTP for not taking more aggressive and violent action to avenge the death of the JuA leader after August 2022.25 Hard-line JuA members could alternatively defect to ISKP.