Month: April 2010

A note on the AQ threat regarding the 2010 World Cup

Much has been revolving around the alleged AQ threat to attack the 2010 World Cup. While various sources claimed the origin of the threat was issued in a statement clearly broadcast by the African AQ branch, AQIM, others did not clarify this issue at all.

The problem is, that the validation of the source can be clearly attributed to AQ’s ongoing online jihadist endeavor that is quick to issue empty threats with greater effect, but the threat in direction of the World Cup in 2010 has been issued in a clear language with precise naming of the most favored soccer teams. But that may not mean much, I caution the reader to recall the fuzz that evolved after notorious Bekkay Harrach issued his threat message that something will happen two weeks after the German elections. Nothing happened. Germany has been ever since more in the focus and the jihadist anonymous online ranting but AQ didn’t bother to comment on the absence of the promised attacks. Rather, the online sympathizers had a good time posting on how the German government just spend millions of Euros for nothing while “imagining security that cannot be provided” according to the jihadists dreamers.

The threat this time was not issued in a involuntary funny video like in Harrach’s threat but in a 2 page long article in a online jihadist magazine entitled “al-Musthaqun ila l-Janna”. In the meantime this is edition number 5 of a magazine based publication that started in October last year when it dedicated its first issue to the annihilation of Jund Ansar Allah by Hamas in the Gaza Strip (see my blog I posted plenty of stuff on that subject). Also a graphical reaction on Harrach’s threat is portrayed. While the first edition already stated that its a new online jihad based magazine to inform the umma and report the truth and so on, the fifth edition now seems of being a special on AQIM, as the cover already indicates:

As indicated on the cover the reference to the article is already made: “The global AQ organization in regard of the World Cup”.

The article itself is written by Ibada bin al-Samat, who depicts the World Cup as “part of the ongoing campaign of the Crusaders against Islam.” Underlining arguments are that Muslims are being prevented to move out into jihad by being stuck in front of the TV set due to the soccer events. Furthermore, each individual soccer player is violating the monotheistic foundations of God, as people may be more inclined to praise their favorite soccer player then God… basically a very easy and quite polemic article, nothing new out of the jihadists hard disk here.

The logic is, while Crusader forces are killing innocent Muslims, two countries meet on the soccer field. So what will the media report? The games are made up anyway, so “America may grant Algeria to win [on the soccer field]!! Then the Arab country will feel a great victory over America. The country that supports Israel, that occupies Afghanistan and Iraq and rules over the Arab Peninsula. America, the country that prevents, bans, kills and wages war!!”

The article then goes on the brag that AQ will be able to smuggle explosives despite all the security measures into the stadiums, just as it was able to get the wanna-be suicide bomber Faruq with explosives onboard a US bound aircraft and just as much as Assiri, the wanna-be sucidebomber assassin was able to get his explosives into the office of Saudi Prince Nayef. Just as much Abu Dujana is being praised, who “fooled the mightiest intelligence agency in the world and who killed senior CIA agents as well as their Jordanian colleagues.” A multitude of jihadists perception is deployed to imply that the World Cup 2010 is not safe and that 50 grams of explosives would be enough just as in the case of Faruq.

An attack on the World Cup would of course have the impact the jihadists are hoping for and which is part of their strategy. “Dozens, hundreds would be killed. 50 grams are sufficient for such an operation. All security measures will fail including the body-scanners America will install after having read this article. They won’t find out how we get the explosives into the stadium.”

The groups A, D and F are highlighted, as these are countries of special jihadist interest: France (A), Germany (D) and Italy (F). “All of these countries participate in the Crusader-Zionist campaign against Islam. (…) We will bring the war into your stadiums.”

Page two of the article is accompanied by a picture of a dead child, killed in Indonesia, where “Muslims have been forgotten and are suffering under the Christians.”

Al-Falluja forum announces new styles: al-Ekhlaas and al-Hisbah

Notorious jihadist online forum al-Falluja announced today, that the “beloved jihadist forums al-Ekhlaas and al-Hesbah” will resume their ‘livelihood’ being hosted via al-Falluja. ‘Livelihood’ as al-Falluja uses its own content but provides the nostalgic online jihadist with alternative “styles”, those of the two forums. This shows that these two forums had been indeed very beloved and praised. Al-Falluja would not be, however, if Ekhlaas and Hesbah hadn’t been taken down. Al-Ekhlaas and al-Hesbah had both been taken down prior to the jihadist ‘day of celebration’ on 11 September 2008 after several administrators had been arrested in Saudi Arabia. Both forums had not resumed operations, despite having been around and alive for years. There are, however, some rumors that some kind of al-Hesbah offspring was later run by US Intelligence agencies to spy on jihadists and deploy counter-propaganda (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031805464_pf.html).

“This is to anger the enemies and bring glad tidings to the online jihadist communites”… you get the picture.

So the yellow bound al-Falluja is green dominated in the al-Hesbah theme.

Jihadists translate FBI document on security advices

Jihadists are renowned using non-Arabic sources, translating these and thus providing the online communities of sympathizers with such kind of OSINT – from the other side. Are we doing anything else? In this particular document, a jihadist specialized media outlet, which normally disseminates transcripts of videos and audio recordings, took some input from the FBI’s homepage and crafted an Arabic document based on the English FBI sources. As you can read in the English title above, that is simply translated into Arabic, it is always welcome and necessary to know how and by what means personal security, security in general and surveillance are portrayed and warned of. It is of essential importance, according to the introduction, that the jihadists are aware on how the FBI advises and addresses the above mentioned content.

Somalia’s Shabab claim disrupting BBC

Harakat al-shabab al-mujahideen, the Somali AQ outlet, just claimed to have disrupted a BBC broadcasting signal in Somalia.

On 9 April 2010 the group was able, with its media outlet al-Kata’ib, to prevent a BBC broadcasting station to take up business. The station would have covered (“with all its equipment and signals”) five regions in “the Islamic provinces: Juba, Shbili al-Salafi, Shbili al-Wasati, Banadir (Mogadishu), Bay and Bakul.”

What follows is the usual ranting on how “crusader forces are endangering Islamic principles and moral values”, also implying that besides trying to persuade the pious Somalis away from the jihadist understanding of Islam by broadcasting crusader propaganda and media. Thus the seizure or destruction (not clear in the statement) of the station was undertaken to protect the Muslims. Some gear was stolen by the Harakat and will be used for future broadcasting/online means and the station, as well as the equipment has been ‘documented’ by Harakat as proof of their actions.

Some of the pictures of the statement, note the inflationary use of the stamp “al-Kata’ib”:

 

Also, have a look on the BBC site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8617627.stm

ISI embassy bombings in Baghdad

With the ongoing “ghazwat al-asir” campaign by the Islamic State of Iraq to revenge imprisoned Muslims (hence the name of the operations “Prisoner”) it has now reached its fifth operation. The recent suicidebombing attacks against embassies in Baghdad had been claimed by ISI in a usual rhetoric and manner, but this has now been expressed in a picture uploaded by one of the jihadist forum members to underline his

The campaign started with devastating suicide attacks in Baghdad and has since not decreased in intensity or violence. As the German, Iranian and Egyptian embassies had been struck, the flags appear in the picture depicting the ISI operation as direct revenge for worldwide imprisoned Muslims and that are governments conspiring with the authorities of the Green Zone. ISI released a video two weeks ago entitled “ghazwat al-asir, part I”, which may be the beginning of a new ISI video series (as of “fursan al-shahada” that consists now of 7 lengthy movies showing testimonies and attacks of suicide bombers).

A note on the source of the picture:

The “Terrorist for the Victory of Religion” felt compelled to create the picture “for a long time. I haven’t submitted a jihadist picture” but was working on it while gained some experience with programs – may it have been Photoshop? But the operation did inspire him to that extend, “that I rushed on working with the programs to create a picture for the blessed operation.”

As you can see, he has chosen his avatar carefully, just as much as the signature of his postings: