That’s the claim of Abu Islam al-`Iraqi, one of the leaders of the “popular committees” in Diyala Province. 25 seems high, but it dovetails with what I wrote about the Harbi group last week.
Issue 4 of Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Glorious Battles), the main organ of al-Qaeda in Yemen, is out. One article caught my eye: “Somalia…The Forgotten Land.” Issue 27 of Sada al-Jihad (The Echo of Jihad) is also out. SJ is produced by the Global Islamic Media Front. A few articles look interesting: “Al-Qaeda Is a Stone’s Throw From Palestine,” “Apostates Are More Dangerous Than the Enemy,” and “Interrogation (Methods and Phases).” Finally, the Ansar Media Institute published issue 50 of Hassad* al-Mujahidin (Harvester of the Mujahids). The periodical focuses mainly on Iraq and most of this issue is about various attacks and prison breaks. There is one article worth noting: “The Camera: A Weapon Without Bullets.” * Note: Hisad (“harvest”) seems to make more sense than Hassad (“harvester”) for the title, but that’s how the .pdf file is vocalized, so I’m going with it. Document (Arabic): 7-13-08-ekhlaas-issue-4-of-sada-al-malahim Document (Arabic):
Today we continue our look at a Kuwaiti cell and how its members transitioned from forum fighters to foreign fighters. When we left off, Badr al-Harbi and Bawasil had returned to Kuwait from the front in Afghanistan via Iran, entrusted with a special mission by Abu al-Layth al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda leader. They were delayed in carrying out their task by Iranian, and then Kuwaiti, security forces. The latter, according to al-Furqan al-Junubi’s account, had tortured them and confiscated their passports. After being released, Harbi and Bawasil stayed in Kuwait a full year to complete their special mission: gathering money, clothes, and food for the Jihadis in Afghanistan. In this, they relied on their network of friends, many of whom were already committed to the cause. Yet Harbi and Bawasil’s efforts aroused the suspicions of other Jihadis, who wrote the brothers in Afghanistan and told them that they were spies.
The title of al-Faruq al-`Iraqi’s post on Ekhlaas is more exciting than the content. Faruq, like countless corporate PR offices, has discovered that Wikipedia entries can be edited by users (although it seems much easier to do on Arabic Wikipedia). As proof, he points readers to his addition of two sections (“supervisory positions” and “the stance of the leaders of jihad toward him”) at the end of the Arabic entry on Abu `Umar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq. Faruq appeals to his comrades to start editing the profiles of prominent Jihadi leaders on Wikipedia “since many people refer to this site to obtain information on a specific person.” Document (Arabic): 6-29-08-ekhlaas-how-to-raid-wikipedia
On the Firdaws forum yesterday, a member posted a message informing fellow Firdawsians that one of their own, asdasd99, had joined the caravan of jihad in Afghanistan. Asdasd99, who also goes by al-Miskin al-Muhajir (The Lowly Emigrant) on the Ekhlaas forum, had tried to go to Iraq a month ago with a group from Kuwait that I’ll be profiling this week. However, unnamed “personal circumstances” kept him from going. Looks like he resolved them. Document (Arabic): 6-29-08-firdaws-member-of-ekhlaas-and-firdaws-joins-jihad-in-afghanistan
Clint Watts of PJ Sage has released part two of his study of the foreign fighter data from Sinjar, Iraq. The CTC at West Point was the initial conduit for the data and they wrote a useful accompanying report. Clint has gone further by recoding the data (all of which he makes freely available on his site). His new look at the numbers led him to some important findings, including: Al-Qaeda does little of its own top-down recruitment in Middle Eastern and North African countries. The Internet plays a limited role in radicalizing, recruiting, and coordinating young men in many Middle Eastern and North African countries. Returning veteran fighters play a crucial role in radicalizing, recruiting, and coordinating young men to fight in foreign countries. A handful of cities (what he calls “flashpoint cities”) produce a disproportionate number of foreign fighters. Based on Clint’s findings in part two of his
Just in time for Craig Whitlock’s helpful survey of Jihadi internet propaganda, Ekhlaas member Usud al-Tawhid (Lions of Monotheism) has posted a message about the Islamic State of Iraq’s method of media distribution. The message is by an Abu al-Zarqa’ al-`Iraqi, who claims to be a member of the ISI. AZ warns forum members not to post media material from Iraq outside of official channels online. He relates that he once made this mistake when he published clips of an attack carried out by a certain “Dr. Fathi” (probably alluding to this). AZ’s action angered people in the ISI’s Media Ministry and resulted in AZ and another brother being hauled before a Sharia tribunal. A brother informed AZ that Furqan is the only entity that can publish media material for the ISI. By this, AZ says, the brother meant that members of the ISI’s Media Ministry in al-Furqan were the
On May 10, Ekhlaas member Muhibb al-Amir al-Baghdidi (Fan of Commander Baghdadi) posted a letter he received from a certain Abu Hurayra. Muhibb claims that Abu Hurayra is “one of the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq.” Here’s the letter: In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. My dear brother, precious to my heart. We ask God to reward you well on our behalf. My dear brother, I have approached the zero hour, as they say, for the decisive battle, as they call it. God willing, it will prove decisive for the Muslims through the aid of God and His assistance. My dear brother, I have resolved to participate in this battle, but I am participating as a journalist or photographer. But my inner being is a fighter in the path of God against the infidels and the apostates. My brother, I swear I have a strong
