Category: AQAP

Articles of the Week – 7/3-7/9

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Sunday July 4:
Book Review of “The World for Ransom: Piracy Is Terrorism, Terrorism Is Piracy” – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Pragati: https://bit.ly/9xbU8r
“The Transformation of Algerian Islamist Parties” – Amel Boubekeur, The Maghreb Center Journal: https://bit.ly/bAYfIm
“Al Qaeda In Kashmir” – Eric Randolph, Current Intelligence: https://bit.ly/d2muus
Monday July 5:
“AQAP Inspire Magazine is Nothing New” – J.M. Berger, IntelWire: https://bit.ly/aWduVO
Tuesday July 6:
“Indonesia: The Dark Side of Jama’ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT)” – International Crisis Group: https://bit.ly/aUUMun
“Un-Inspired” – Thomas Hegghammer, Jihadica: https://bit.ly/9ZB6hV
Wednesday July 7:
French Doctrine for Counterinsurgency at the Tactical Level https://bit.ly/bZcizW
“Observations of Turkish Islamist Politics: Islamic Democrats or Enemies of Turkish Secularism?” – Youssef Aboul-Enein, Small Wars Journal: https://bit.ly/9kVhj3
“Pakistan’s Competing Jihadists” – Praveen Swami, The Hindu: https://bit.ly/acCq3N
Jihadi Websites Monitoring Group, Periodical Review June 2010 – No. 2, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism: https://bit.ly/8XshP8
“Asian influence in the Middle East — friend or foe?” – Geoffrey Kemp, The Middle East Channel: https://bit.ly/dxWdra
Thursday July 8:
Salafi-Jihadis and the North Caucasus: Is There a New Phase of the War in the Making? – Murad Batal al-Shishani, Terrorism Monitor: https://bit.ly/aDHJa2
Friday July 9:
“Resistance Land- Hezbollah’s new theme park” – Andrew Table, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/aJpnwW
“The Legal War on Terror for the week of 7/2-7/8” – Andrew Lebovich, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/9J7Ssq
“The Salafists: the Latest in Islamist Politics” – François Burgat, Le Monde: https://bit.ly/d0vtLF
Interview with Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic novel Persepolis – Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/akEZae

Articles of the Week – 6/26-7/2

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Saturday June 26:
“The Muslim Past- Book Review of “Faith and Power” & “Muhammad and the Believers”” – Max Rodenbeck, The New York Times: https://nyti.ms/blRwDG
Sunday June 27:
“Endless war, a recipe for four-star arrogance” – Andrew J. Bacevich, The Washington Post: https://bit.ly/cFmDcd
Monday June 28:
“Prisons and Terrorism: Radicalisation and De-radicalisation in 15 Countries” – Peter R. Neumann, et. al,  The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence: https://bit.ly/9Rt4a2
“Counterinsurgency Under the Microscope” – Andrew Exum, Abu Muqawama Blog: https://bit.ly/bfzrgr
“From Sayyid Qutb To Hamas: The Middle East Conflict and Islamization of Antisemitism – Bassam Tibi, Yale University Working Paper Series: https://bit.ly/ctPYMF
Tuesday June 29:
“Abu Yahya al-Libi’s Long, Lonely Journey” – Jarret Brachman: https://bit.ly/9Hfmv9
“How Tribal Are the Taleban? Afghanistan’s Largest Insurgent Movement between its Tribal Roots and Islamist Ideology” – Thomas Ruttig, The Afghanistan Analysts Network: https://bit.ly/aR36Hl
“Estimates for Hezbollah’s Arsenal” – David Schapiro & Katherine Zimmerman, IranTracker: https://bit.ly/cWCC3S
“Islamist Radicalism in Yemen” (Updated) – Deborah Jerome, Council on Foreign Relations: https://bit.ly/aFe361
“Views of Pakistani Religious Leader Dr. Israr Ahmed (1932-2010) Regarding the Structure of an Islamic Caliphate” – The Middle East Media Research Institute: https://bit.ly/bG8mQF
“An Al-Shabaab Narco-Terrorism Connection?” – Investigative Project on Terrorism: https://bit.ly/cRXkoG
Wednesday June 30:
“The Haqqanis and al-Qaeda” – Anand Gopal, Mansur Khan Mahsud and Brian Fishman, The AfPak Channel: https://bit.ly/9NdXYM
The reason why the new al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula magazine “Inspire” was corrupted & then taken down from the forums – Internet Haganah: https://bit.ly/alZhaR
“Pakistani Terror Group Lashkar-e Tayyiba Extends Tentacles in United States” – The Investigative Project on Terrorism: https://bit.ly/dtNEvn
Thursday July 1:
“Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Eliminating Leaders Will Not Necessarily Cut Lifelines” – Omar Ashour, Arab Reform Bulletin: https://bit.ly/avX3u1
“Tariq Ramadan: Exposing the Irrelevance of His Defenders in America” – Dr. Robert D. Crane, The American Muslim: https://bit.ly/aS5SZs
“Four Questions for Yemen Scholar Gregory Johnsen” – The Atlantic: https://bit.ly/a8ApNC
“Counting al-Qaeda” – Brian Fishman, The AfPak Channel: https://bit.ly/aYVvqN
“Top Twenty Plots to Know since 9/11” – The Center on Law and Security: https://bit.ly/9QfVz2
Friday July 2:
“Ruminations on the AQAP magazine and its ridiculous coverage” – J.M. Berger, IntelWire: https://bit.ly/akv4Rz
“Hiding In Plain Sight- Terrorists in Punjab Province” – Ahmad Majidyar, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/9lW9f6

al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula releases its first English language magazine “Inspire”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

UPDATE 7: Inspire Magazine has been translated into Arabic as an ‘Īd al-Fiṭr gift to the Muslim ummah (community) by the Arabic Anṣār al-Mujāhidīn Forum.

Click here: Inspire Magazine Arabic
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UPDATE 6: The Investigative Project on Terrorism weighs in on “Inspire Magazine” and its potential negative effects on radicalization.
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UPDATE 5: Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project explains the implications of AQAP’s “Inspire Magazine”.
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UPDATE 4: Aaron Weisburd of the Internet Haganah provides his take on the full release of AQAP’s “Inspire Magazine”.
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UPDATE 3: After 12 days,AQAP releases the full version of “Inspire Magazine” without corruption. Also, checkout Jarret Brachman’s quick take analysis of the new magazine.
Click here: AQAP – Inspire Magazine Volume 1 – UNCORRUPTED
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UPDATE 2: J.M. Berger of IntelWire along with Thomas Hegghammer of Jihadica posted new blog entries detailing past English language magazines by jihādī and the continued lack of understanding by the mainstream media when reporting on the “Inspire” magazine.
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UPDATE: After the forums released the new English language magazine “Inspire” within an hour or so they took it down since the pdf file was corrupted. The first three pages — the table of contents — was fine, but afterwards the text was gibberish. I am still keeping this corrupted file up so people can see what it looked like. For more on why the file was corrupted and taken down check out the Internet Haganah’s analysis. Also, it is worthwhile to read J.M. Berger of IntelWire’s critique of the US media coverage of the “Inspire” magazine release.
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NOTE: al-Malāḥim Media, al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) media outfit, released a new English language magazine called “Inspire”, which features interviews with the amīr (leader) of AQAP Abū Basīr (Nāṣir al-Wūḥayshī) and Anwar al-‘Awlakī.
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Original corrupted file (won’t harm your computer, gibberish after a few pages): AQAP – Inspire Magazine Volume 1

al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new statement: "On the killing of women and Destruction of Homes and Mosques in Valley Ubaida"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: al-Qā’idah (AQ) has been in Yemen since the late 1990s. As is well known AQ operatives struck the USS Cole in October of 2000. Following that attack and 9/11, the United States and Yemen worked together to suppress and eliminate al-Qā’idah in Yemen or al-Qā’idah in Southern Arabia as they were called then. This mission was successful and by November 2003 that generation of al-Qā’idah members was for all intents and purposes eliminated.
Following the above successes, though, the United States, along with Yemen, took their eyes off preventing a rise in a new generation of al-Qā’idah activists in Yemen. Consequently, in February 2006, twenty-three al-Qā’idah terrorists, including the mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing, escaped from a Yemeni prison.  National security experts have claimed this event as the date when al-Qā’idah’s presence in Yemen started to rise again. Within months of the escape al-Qā’idah was responsible for attacks on oil and gas facilities and culminated in September of 2008 with its attempt to bomb the US Embassy.
Along with the prison escape another important factor behind al-Qā’idah’s reemergence in Yemen is due to the successful counterterrorism efforts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a result, many Saudi al-Qā’idah members fled to Yemen. This led in January of 2009 for the two groups, al-Qā’idah in Yemen and al-Qā’idah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to merge into what it is now referred to as al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP has shown it is a force to be reckoned with by its attempted assassination of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Muḥammad bin Nāyef as well as attempts to smuggle weapons into KSA dressed as women and assassinating key local leaders in southern Yemen. Furthermore, AQAP has been linked to the failed Christmas Day attack attempted by ‘Umar Fārūk ‘Abd  al-Muṭallab. AQAP claims they went forth with this attack as a response to the US’ cruise missile attacks against AQ assets on December 17 and 24.
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al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new statement- “On the killing of women and Destruction of Homes and Mosques in Valley Ubaida”
[scribd id=33225219 key=key-zzlk7kye0kpvnhcel85 mode=list]

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