Category: al-Shabāb

Al-Katāayb Foundation for Media Productions presents: "The African Crusaders"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: Al-Katāayb Foundation for Media Productions is the media center used by al-Qā’idah-linked Ḥarakat al-Shabāb al-Mujāhidīn based in Somalia. Ibn Siqilli on this video:

Harakat al-Shabab’s media outlet, the Al-Kata’ib (Brigades) Media Foundation, released a video entitled “The African Crusaders” yesterday in which the AU’s forces are labeled agents of the United States, which seeks to persecute Muslims in Somalia and across the globe. Battle footage shows fierce fighting between Harakat al-Shabab militiamen and AU forces, particularly Uganda Army soldiers. Ugandan “crusaders” were discussed in Harakat al-Shabab’s groundbreaking September 2009 video “Labbayk Ya Usama” (We Heed Your Call, O’ Usama), which I wrote about at some length HERE.
Citizens of the African nations contributing soldiers to the AU mission in Somalia, namely Uganda and Burundi, are asked to consider whether they wish to sacrifice their sons to a failed mission in Somalia to support a weak, failing government, that led by PresidentShaykh Sharif Ahmed. The video’s narrator asks Ugandans to consider whether their soldiers would have been better employed defending them from the insurgents of the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony in northern Uganda.
In one part, audio of the late Harakat al-Shabab leader Aden (Adan, Adam) Hashi Ayro (he was killed in a U.S. missile strike in March 2008) is used and a current commander, Husayn Fidow, is shown speaking. The group also recently released photographs of its fighters burning captured AU vehicles.

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Best Articles of the Past Week – 6/5-6/11

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Saturday June 5:
“Abu Walid al Masri responds to Charles Cameron” – Leah Farrall, All Things Counter Terrorism: https://allthingsct.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/abu-walid-al-masri-responds-to-charles-cameron/
“Rhetoric and Reality: Countering Terrorism in the Age of Obama” – Marc Lynch, Center for a New American Security: https://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_Rhetoric%20and%20Reality_Lynch.pdf
Monday June 7:


“Does al Qaeda Threaten the World Cup? Assessment, Context, and Implications for Understanding of the al Qaeda Network” – Charlie Szrom, Critical Threats Project: https://www.criticalthreats.org/africa/does-al-qaeda-threaten-world-cup-assessment-context-june-7-2010
Tuesday June 8:
“Exploiting Grievances: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” – Alistair Harris, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: https://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/exploiting_grievances.pdf
“Counterterrorism and democracy promotion in the Sahel under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama from September 11, 2001, to the Nigerien Coup of February 2010” – Alex Thurston, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars, ACAS Bulletin No. 85: https://concernedafricascholars.org/docs/bulletin85thurston.pdf
“From GSPC to AQIM: The evolution of an Algerian islamist terrorist group into an Al-Qa‘ida Affiliate and its implications for the Sahara-Sahel region” – Stephen Harmon, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars, ACAS Bulletin No. 85: https://concernedafricascholars.org/docs/bulletin85harmon.pdf
Wednesday June 9:
“Militants Seize Mecca” – Marissa Allison, al-Maktabah Blog: https://azelin.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/guest-post-juhayman-al-utaybi-and-the-siege-of-the-grand-mosque-in-mecca/
Thursday June 10:
“Could Al-Qaeda Turn African in the Sahel?” – Jean-Pierre Filiu, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Papers No. 112: https://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/al_qaeda_sahel.pdf
“Jihād & the Battle of Uncertainty” – Abū Yaḥyā al-Lībī, Al-Fajr Media Center: https://jihadology.net/wp-content/uploads/_pda/2010/06/al-fajr-media-center-presents-a-new-book-by-abu-yahya-al-libi-jihad-the-battle-of-uncertainty.pdf
“Pakistan’s New Networks of Terror” – Imtiaz Gul, Foreign Policy: https://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/10/pakistans_new_networks_of_terror
Friday June 11:
“Muddying the ‘Taliban'” – Brian Fishman, The AfPak Channel: https://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/11/muddying_the_taliban

Al-Katāi’b Media releases new video statement: "Message to the French People From the Imprisoned Security Adviser Denis Allex"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: Yesterday, Al-Katāi’b Media released a video message where a French security advisor Denis Allex pleads to French citizens and his government to release him. He is currently held by al-Qā’idah ally Ḥarakat al-Shabāb al-Mujāhidīn. Also, Allex appears to be wearing a prison jumpsuit. Could one argue that this is a veiled message about Guantanamo Bay? The entire video is embedded below. For more on the statement see the full AFP story:

The Frenchman cited the demands of his captors, Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels, which include the immediate end to any political and military support from France for the Somali government and the withdrawal of all foreign advisors and private security firms in Somalia.

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Statement from the Islamic State of Iraq: "Congratulations to the Brothers in Somalia With Announcing al-Katāi'b Media"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

بسـم الله الرحمـن الرحيـم

{ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ لا يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌ وَلا نَصَبٌ وَلا مَخْمَصَةٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلا يَطَأُونَ مَوْطِئاً يُغِيظُ الْكُفَّارَ وَلا يَنَالُونَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّ نَيْلاً إِلَّا كُتِبَ لَهُمْ بِهِ عَمَلٌ صَالِحٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ}[التوبة: من الآية120].

الحمد لله ربّ العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على نبيّنا محمّد، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين… وبعد:
ففي خطوةٍ مسدّدة موفّقة، أعلن إخوة التوحيد والجهاد في أرض العزّة وجيش العُسرة في الصّومال الحبيبة، عن ولادة مؤسسة إعلاميّة جديدة؛ ونحنُ في مؤسسّة الفرقان إذ نهنّئهم ونباركُ لهم، ونشدُّ على أيديهم إقدامهم على مثل هذا المشروع المهم والخطوة النّوعية..
فإننا نسأل الله أن يجعل عملهم خالصاً لوجهه الكريم، وأن تكون هذه المؤسسة الفتيّة نافذةً جديدة تُشرق منها شمس التوحيد، وتُحيي بإنتاجها الإعلامي قلوباً طال عليها الأمدُ، وحَجَبت عنها ظلماتُ الباطلِ نورَ الحقّ ولذّة النفير والجهاد في سبيل الله.
ولتحضى أمّتنا الجريحة بفرصة أخرى تطلُّ منها على أملها الحقيقيّ القادم، والذي سيحفظ لها بيضتها ويأخذ بيدها لسواحل العزة وبرّ الأمان والخير والرّفعة، وليدفع عنها مكر المنافقين وكيدَ المجرمين، وفي مقدّمتهم ذئاب الحملة الصّليبية الجديدة وأذنابها الدّائرين في فلكها…
والله أكبر
{وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لا يَعْلَمُونَ}
إخوتكم في مؤسّسة الفُرقان/ وزارةُ الإعلام
دولةُ العراقِ الإسلاميّة

المصدر : (مركز الفجر للإعلام )