Pictures… and the internet

One of al-Qaeda strong points is its constant presence as a media group online. With plenty of sympathizers absorbing AQ propaganda videos and writings, it may be no surprise that these sympathizers generate their own content as an reaction and as a response to current and general AQ related broadcastings.

Here are some pictures of the wanna-be suicide bomber Farouk:

The original – from the written statement issued by AQ on the Arab Peninsula (now primarily in Yemen)

One bad, bad example… poorly cut out and compiled…

Farouk with Assiri, the suicide bomber who tried to kill Saudi Prince Nayef in August 2009; he also used a new bomb device, was able to board an airplane to Jeddah and to bypass the Prince’s security installments. He failed to kill the Saudi interior minister but succeeded in killing himself.

Part of this picture is the logo of the Islamic State of Iraq in the top middle.

And another example – note the ISI logo and another picture taken from the written original statement.

AQIM issues statement, photographs of kidnapped Italian tourists

AQIM just issued a statement showing a picture of the hostages and their scanned passports. The women has been – as in the past with female hostages – been made unrecognizable in the pictures.

As in the case of the kidnapped Austrians, the full names are stated and in addition the passports of the victims have been scanned and published as well in AQIM’s statement that was issued via their media arm al-Andalus.

Kidnapped on 18 December 2009, as a reaction “to the crimes of the government of Berlusconi arriving in the center of Islam and of Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq” and while “the Italian people vow to continue their support the new occupational crusader wars against our territory and to wage war against our sacrosanct sites.”

The Mujahidin demand for their release that the Italian people exercise pressure on their government…

And to the crusaders they say that “your security and the safety of your citizens is bound to our umma and to the safety of our Muslim brothers”.

The statement is dated to the 26th of December 2009.

Taken from the majority jihadist forums:

Above another al-Andalus video is being advertised for and will be published shortly. Below that the headline linking to AQIM’s statement followed by a al-Furqan reaction to the Somali jihadist announcement of having created their own (another one…) media department al-Kata’ib.

The recent attempted attacks in the US is shown, linking to a number of postings by sympathizers who react.

More Hamas-bashing from jihadist forums

The August 2009 stand-off between the pro AQ group Jund Ansar Allah (JAA) and Hamas in the Gaza-strip has led to a continued Hamas-bashing within jihadist forums and from sympathizers who in the meantime have issued a great deal of anti-Hamas documents and videos. Being branded as a “traitors to the umma” or “agents of the Zionist agenda” and so forth, Hamas has been widely marked as a hostile group and part of the global “war on Islam” – on the side of those, who wage war with the Crusaders and the Zionist and who-have-you.

After the JAA issued a video in August, showing attacks against infrastructure and IED’s transported by JAA Mujahidin on horses, a attentive AQ sympathizer observed and claims that Hamas stole these IED’s from the JAA after the al-Qassam Brigades moved into JAA’s HQ in the Ibn Taymiya Mosque on August 17 killing most of JAA’s members and their ideological and practical leader Abu Nur al-Maqdisi (‘Abd al-Latif Musa).

There the sympathizer “recommends to you all to spread [these pictures] as being part of a collection on the crimes of Hamas and its treacherous behavior. (…) Here are new pictures of Hamas criminal soldiers, who murder Muslims, in their military parade in the Nasirat region. They are carrying the IED’s of the Mujahidin [JAA] in this parade.”

A picture of a JAA Mujahid who is making his horse ready to deploy the IED’s in JAA’s video issued in July/August 2009.

Here are the members of the al-Qassam Brigades, who swiped the Ibn Taymiyya mosque in Rafah in August 2009 killing most of JAA members and their leader, Abu Nur al-Maqdisi. The IED is marked with a red circle by the attentive online jihadist and has titled this picture accordingly (“criminals of the al-Qassam Brigades use the IED’s of those, who confess the unity of God, in the military parade, as a present for the Zionists, who they have found to protect them in Gaza for they are the brigade of crimes and murder those, who confess the unity of God and the ‘ulama, the Mujahidin and the innocents”.

Same story, different picture.

And here is a screenshot to further prove how Hamas steals weapons from the true mujahidin. This screenshot is from the Tawhed and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, who claim that Hamas soldiers seized their rockets intended to be launched against Israeli targets.

 

Taliban claims

Just on a short note, the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” just issued a statement claiming the death of seven British soldiers in Jarshak and Sanjeen in the contested Helmand province.

Issued today it claims that “three firefights took place between the mujahidin and the occupational forces in the region Kufki in the city of Jarshak. This led to the death of four occupational soldiers and wounded two severely.” Three other soldiers had allegedly been killed as “a result of the explosion of a mine”.

ISI’s Tikrit Raid

Shortly before the statement by the Islamic State of Iraq regarding the terrorist attacks in Baghdad had been released, ISI issued a statement considering a “raid in Tikrit”. Therein, ISI claims to have killed a high-ranking counter-terrorist commander, who, according to the statement, was responsible for the death, extortion, torture, rape of Sunnis in Iraq and part of the perceived ‘counter’ state under al-Maliki.

According to the statement, that refers to the “safeguarding of the blood of the weak”, the officer, Ahmad Subhi al-Fahl, was killed by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive belt when al-Fahl and others had left a building. As usual or often in such statements, the Mujahidin, “the lions of ISI”, claim to have conducted “proper surveillance of their target; after patience and remaining steadfast tied to the military operation, the criminal was found and killed” by a suicide bomber who threw himself into the group.

Interesting about this statement was, however, a posting in one of the radical forums before the statement was released. In this homemade video, the death of al-Fahl is being praised and ISI cherished.

Sequences from ISI videos are taken and republished in this homemade video. Praise for the alleged actions and the ‘success’ by ISI, as well as the support by the people, shall be implicated by such praiseful scenes.

Al-Fahl, who is claimed to have been killed by ISI operatives in Tikrit – and the response (before the official statement) by one of ISI’s ‘fans’.

“The dog who revealed on the al-Arabiya News Channel proud the killing of Mujahidin”

Still present in the fantasy sphere of online jihadists icons: “martyred” al-Zarqawi

The video is concluded by scenes from 2006 and 2007 al-Furqan videos showing the execution of members of the governments Ministry of the Interior.

All in all a ‘legitimate fight with legitimate means’ as introduced by icons such as al-Zarqawi is being reinstated by the author of this video and summed up in ISI’s official statement. Fighting for justice, peace and religious deeds, all of which are alleged vehicles for Sunni Muslims to acquire security and to fulfill the will of God as set by the jihadists interpretations of Quran and Sunna.

Islamic State of Iraq – Statement of the recent Baghdad attacks

 

After the devastating attacks in Bagdad earlier this week, ISI issued two statements days after, claiming responsibility for the multiple simultaneous attacks in Baghdad and the assassination of a high ranking counter terrorist officer in Tikrit. Both statements are related and follow a similar pattern as the two statements released after the October attacks in Baghdad, can be seen as a defiant act of revenge of ISI’s claim to have lost control over a territory in Iraq. The immediate release of two statements also implies a high level of action and reaction by ISI – something any online sympathizer believes anyway without criticism. The ISI’s credo is to destroy the ‘counter-state’, run by Shiites and protected by internal enemies and the Crusaders.

 

The Statement regarding the Baghdad attacks

 

The statement is – as always – introduced by a short reference of the Quran, that is taken out of its historical context and part of the comprising ideological pillars that simply are used to justify violence by all means.

The statement is entitled “Raid of the Prisoner in Baghdad” and claims to be the “Third Confrontation” in this regard. The first attack in August, followed by October is now concluded for 2009 by the December attack – all three attacks had been in the name of the “prisoner” and the exploited Sunnites in Iraq, repelling the Shiites and the Crusaders, the invaders.

Here is an English translation from an online sympathizer – my comments are in [COMMENT: brackets]

The translation is provided by one of the volunteer online jihadists and it is not very good – interesting though to see his understanding of the statement in English. The original Arabic statement is much more comprising in highly defined ideological terms that are indeed difficult to translate but by neglecting it, nevertheless, the statement is in wide parts distorted from its original meaning, intend and value for the Arabic jihadists. But anything that is being made available from the Arabic to the weird crowd of non-Arabic speaking allahu akbar criers is being cherished and dwelled upon, even if some interesting fundamental ideological implications may be lost.

—BEGINN of TRANSLATION

“In the name of Allah most Gracious most merciful

~~ the third stage of the Expedition of the Prisoners in the heart of Baghdad ~~

Allah says in the Quran: O you who have attained to faith! Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you, and let them find you adamant; and know that .God is with those who are conscious of Him. (9:123 Taubah)

[COMMENT: the historical reference is to be made to the unsuccessful campaign against Tabuk, that led to change the strategy in terms of combating enemies in close range first before trying to archive control over hostile territories.]

Praise is to Allah the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings on the Prophet Mohammed, and on his family and companions and…To Proceed:

And here is the brigade of monotheism again in our beloved Baghdad, By the grace and mercy of Allah alone the mujahedeen managed to execute the operations on the fourth of Sha`baan and on the first of dhul qedah [COMMENT: August and October] and now another blessed operation, A continuation of the second phase of the good harvest [COMMENT: it should be translated as “the harvest of the good”] and the blessed expedition of the prisoners, the Islamic youth has set forth again, the pious knights of Baghdad targeted the bastions of evil and dens of apostates, targeting the bases which are waging a war against Al-Islam and the Muslims, and this time we selected some targets that where on our list: striking the Labor Ministry, a court complex and the new site of Iraq’s Finance Ministry). [COMMENT: the original Arabic is much more comprising, highlighting much more the emphasis of the alleged anti-Sunni attitude of the government and focusing on destroying courts that judge by worldly law]

The righteous believers proved again: that al-Jihad in the current time is the true honor for the Islamic Nation [COMMENT: “jihad today is the means of true honor for this Islamic umma”] in a time where they call believers strangers and humiliate them, and the people of falsehood attack the believers, the believers where humiliated on a land that has experienced the best time on earth. [COMMENT: not a good translation, but, ah well… – “in this time of alienation of the religion and the defilement of the Muslims, the rule of the true wicked morals” and so forth that has come upon the honors of Islam and the Muslims]

And we say to the Islamic nation : know that the mujahedeen are the hope of the Islamic nation and the light of the Islamic nation will never extinguish with the permission of Allah, because when the mujahedeen say something they will do it, and when they promise something they will carrie it out, and the convoy of Martyrdom seekers are longing to meet the merciful, and their soul which Allah blessed did not accept to be governed by a filthy polytheist Shiite, or a stupid idiot.

And we give glad tidings to our people on our land, that the determined believers have determined that they will eliminate the pillars of this government, and target their military forces, the target list will not finish with the permission of Allah until we manage to raise the flag of monotheism in Baghdad, and implement the Islamic law, and this is our mission from the beginning, and the lies of the hypocrites will not stop it, nor the people of falsehood or the people who have forsaken us, O people of Islam move forward move forward, be harsh be harsh, emigrate and emigrate – (emigrate to the Islamic state of Iraq) [… and so on]

Allah is the greatest {all honour belongs to God, and to His Apostle and those who believe:but of this the hypocrites are not aware.} The Ministry of Information/media / Islamic State of Iraq Tuesday, 22 / del Hija / 1430 migration of the Prophet Muhammad to medina 9 / 12 / 2009 Source Al-Fair media

Quick [and not good] Translation by Ansar 007

–END of TRANSLATION and no more comment –

Veni, vidi, vici – er kam, sah und siegte in Jihadist-speak

In a German-language video released by the Jund Allah, showing a bunch of German Mujahidin troopers in action, the death of Abu Sufyan is widely portrayed. According to the video, Abu Saffiya “came, saw and was victorious” – maybe the German jihadists after all are only fans of Asterix & Obelix where Caesars veni, vidi, vici was often stated? Abu Saffiya is, according to the video, Djavad Sediqi, who in the opening of the video is shown carrying an anti-tank weapon and repeatedly stating his personal hope to finally die on the path of God as shahid. A short lecture on the shahade is heard while Abu Saffiya is sitting on a Dushka, in an attempt to train. Marching in a caravan, the Mujahidin are shown in a classical way while coalition aircraft are heard flying over their positions bombing something in the more mountainous area.

Abu Saffiya’s lecture on his hope to attain the shahada is bound to the usual historical-textual understanding of al-Qaeda & co. According to the video, “Abu Saffiya died on the death of honor on the 17.10.2009 on the battlefield, he died as a shahid”, as Abu Adam reads it out. “He left in early 2009 his homeland Germany and migrated with his family to carry the banner of truth. After his training he fought in Khorasan and fought on three different fronts. With a strong wish to meet his lord, he asked always to be in the first rows of combat.”

Some training elements in Afpak with the Mujahidin sitting in a half-circle

A screenshot from his testimony – parts are naturally based on specific chosen elements of Quran and Sunna.

Quite interesting, and of course not in any way visible – note that even the eyes are concealed in the video – the wife of Abu Safiyya (or Saffiya) speaks out. Her voice, also in a nice German, is dubbed by a female voice.

“I thank God for everything, after the hijra and such, to accept my husband as a shahid and that this honor will be bestowed upon all our brothers in the umma. One big difference between Mujahidin us and these cowards is that I as a widow of a shahid am full of pride. (…) I am saying full of pride that my husband chose to move into jihad for the umma and the Muslims with me and our daughter” – she then recites a specific part of the Quran to make her claim. She also reinforces her aim to remain in jihad and calls out to all of her sisters to join the Mujahidin in defense of honor, pride and freedom of the women, that can only be granted among the Mujahidin.

 

 

 

Pictures of female Mujahidin in Afpak

Women are of course also part of the globalized jihad – particularly when they are inhabitants, thus wives of obliged Mujahidin, in Islamic territories that have been conquered and invaded by non-Muslim armies. Plenty of textual sources compiled by various jihadist scholars and some legal scholars, specifically historic ones, can be found within the spheres of online jihad.

These are pictures of Mujahidat from the Taliban in Afpak.

Another “Technical Research and Studies Center” (TRSC) of Jihadism

In the meantime the IT-fluency of AQ & co. has made the round, just as much as AQ’s members and sympathizers who from time to time issue new documents of various technical contents. Most of these documents are quite well and the foundation, the jihadists technical mother of all documents, is the Encyclopedia of the 1980s Jihad that you could consider as being frequently updated and extended. Hence the “TSRC”, which is only explained in Arabic.

The document issued says it all about walki-talkis that have been around every since someone invaded Afghanistan, so it seems.

The detailed technical explanations are in some parts concluded by comprehensive technical pictures or examples from the field. This example here shows UBL in one of his famous and widely spread pictures in the jihadists forums and videos.

Jihadist Forums praise of Ft. Hood Shooter

The statement, by the Ansar multi-language forum, was issued with a corresponding and animated GIF banner. Hassan is praised and portrayed as a brother and a fellow mujahid who undertook a logical and natural reaction as a Muslim in the US Army. As usual this action is displayed as a fulfillment of AQ’s ideological and the implicated alleged religious concepts that go along with it.

Here are some points from the original statement:

—Begin of excerpt—

  • The actions of Nidal Malik Hasan were not contrary to the religion of Islam, rather they are encouraged by it, for no covenant exists between Muslims in the U.S. and the U.S. government and army. If there was initially some covenant, that covenant is now void due to the various crimes the United States has committed to break it, from them engaging in war with the Muslims, imprisoning Muslims, and by the rape and abuse of Muslim men and women to name a few.

     

  • If one does hold the opinion that the covenant stands, they in no way are to condemn Nidal Malik Hasan or his actions, as there are legitimate scholars and opinions which state otherwise. Rather, all Muslims are to regard him as a brother and Mujahid who risked his life in avenging the weak and oppressed Muslims around the world, who based his actions on valid and legitimate texts and opinions of scholars. Even if he had not based his actions on valid opinions and indeed was mistaken, the most which would be said that he made a mistake, and that the sin of the infidels was much worse than his mistake, as Allah said in the Qur’an:

﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ قِتَالٍ فِيهِ قُلْ قِتَالٌ فِيهِ كَبِيرٌ وَصَدٌّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَكُفْرٌ بِهِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَإِخْرَاجُ أَهْلِهِ مِنْهُ أَكْبَرُ عِندَ اللّهِ وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْقَتل﴾

They ask you concerning fighting in the Sacred Months. Say, “Fighting therein is a great (transgression) but a greater (transgression) with Allah is to prevent humankind from following the Way of Allah, to disbelieve in Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and to drive out its inhabitants, and fitnah is worse than killing…” (‘Al-Baqarah: 217)

This was revealed in regards to a group of Muslims who killed some polytheists of Makkah during the sacred months in which fighting was forbidden. Al-Qurtubi said:

Mujahid and others said that the word fitnah here means disbelief, meaning, “your disbelief is worse than our killing them.” The majority said, “The meaning of fitnah here is putting Muslims through trials which may turn them away from Islam and be destroyed,” and that this is a greater crime than their killing in the forbidden months.

If one reads and ponders over the event mentioned, they will find many benefits indeed.

 

  • We warn all Muslims, both individuals and organizations, to fear Allah in the views they hold and statements they make in regards to the validity of Nidal’s actions, the character of our brother, and the correct Islamic views in relation to matters of this sort. They must be very careful that they do not knowingly or unknowingly fall into disbelief and apostasy.

     

In conclusion, we again congratulate all Muslims, especially those in the United States, and especially our heroic brother Nidal Malik Hasan, for indeed he has raised our heads and made us proud. He realized the truth about the “war on terror”, and waged his own war on terror. When he realized the sin of being in the army, and when he came to know he may be sent overseas to fight Muslims, he instead chose to fight those who truly deserved to be fought. He risked his life to show that the Muslim Ummah is one Ummah indeed, and that Muslims must target their enemies wherever they may be, even in their own lands. We hope other “Muslims” in the US army repent from their apostasy and take him as a role model, instilling fear in the enemies of Allah and taking them by surprise wherever they may be.

 

–end of the excerpt—

 

What may follow (again, these promises) is a short article in the near future exploiting the specific concepts as indicated above.