Category: AQIM

Summary and Analysis of al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb's new video release "On The Occasion of Ramadan Fighting is Ordained for You"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Friend of the blog Nasser Weddady, a native Mauritanian, summarized and provided local knowledge analysis of AQIM’s most recent video release “On The Occasion of Ramadan Fighting is Ordained for You” to me through twitter. He said:

  • watching the video the dudes in the first minutes are Mauritanians with a clear Hassaniya accent..figures we’re more literary
  • one of the guys was reciting a hassaniya poem
  • it’s funny to see Mauritanians reciting Qur’an in Hafs instead of warsh.. so alien to us.. clearly Saudi influence in action
  • minute 30, showing an Afro-Mauritanian preaching in Halpulaar (fulani) very worrying sign..
  • minute 33 a Touareg preaching in his language face uncovered.. another alarm sign
  • minute 41, Guinean preaching in Portuguese..
  • min 43 AQIM dude preaching in .. Haussa..
  • part one of the new video is basically AQIM bragging about the diversity of its recruits and a show of success recruiting touaregs
  • beginning of video 2 AQIM emphasizing their diversity i.e trying to spread the msg & grow it beyond Arabs
  • min 43, in the hassaniya poem the guy says in rhyme that the group in that location has 14 fighters.
  • the Hassaniya poem in part 2 shows a good deal of sophistication trying to appeal to Moorish youth. psy-ops
  • the propaganda is designed to appeal to young moors warrior ethos.. not to be confused with jihadism..much more complex sociology
  • minute 60 of the video: gives previously unknown names of 4 Muaritanian AQIM members gone KIA.

Obviously one cannot take everything in a propaganda video at face value, at the same time, AQIM is trying to show it has diversified its ranks and is no longer a strictly Arab movement or for that matter completely run by Algerians. As Weddady mentions above this is a worrying sign because it opens the playing field to operations and potential safe havens in other countries. It appears that although AQIM was fairly silent on the media front in 2009, over the past several months they have stepped up their media operations. Something to look for in future statements or video messages is whether AQIM is able to infiltrate networks in Morocco and recruit Moroccans. Also, whether there is a shift in messaging to more a Global Jihadist ideology where they focus less on local and regional issues and more on reclaiming territory occupied by Spain since in the past it was part of Muslim territory (al-Andalus).

New video release from al-Andalus Media: "On The Occasion of Ramadan Fighting is Ordained for You"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is based in Algeria, but also conducts activities in other countries such as Mali, Mauritania, Niger and to a limited extent in Morocco. al-Andalus Media is AQIM’s media outlet. Check out Kal’s (The Moor Next Door) recent post on maps, AQIM, North Africa, and terrorism.
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al-Andalus Media presents: "You have succeeded O' pious servants and your traitorous enemies have lost miserably!" by the religious leader of AQIM in Mauritania Shaykh 'Abd al-Raḥman Abū Anas al-Shanqīṭī

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

The document could not be uploaded to Scribd since it was password protected by the producer of it. That said, below is a safe PDF copy.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Raḥman Abū Anas al-Shanqīṭī joined Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC, the predecessor of al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb) in 2006. He is currently a member of AQIM’s shūrā council (leadership council) and is the muftī (interpreter of Islamic law) and qāḍī‎ (judge) for AQIM in the Saharan “Triangle of Death,” the border regions of Algeria, Mauritania and Mali.
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al-Andalus Media presents- “You have succeeded O’ pious servants and your traitorous enemies have lost miserably!” by the Emir of AQIM in Mauritania Shaykh ‘Abd al-Raḥman Abū Anas al-Shanqīṭī

French Translation of al-Andalus Media video release "Join the Caravan"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

UPDATE 9/22/12 9:57 PM: Here is an English translation:


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NOTE: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is based in Algeria, but also conducts activities in other countries such as Mali, Mauritania and Morocco. Here is an excellent map recently produced by AEI’s Critical Threats Project, which shows AQIM’s recent activities and its main safe havens:

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Anṣār al-Mujāhidīn English Forum translates Al-Andalus Media’s video release – "The Expedition of al-Dāmūs"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is based in Algeria, but also conducts activities in other countries such as Mali, Mauritania and Morocco. Here is an excellent map recently produced by AEI’s Critical Threats Project, which shows AQIM’s recent activities and its main safe havens:

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Audio message from al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib’s Abū Muṣ’ab ‘Abd al-Wadūd (‘Abd al-Malik Drūkdīl): “On the Failed France Operation”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Abū Muṣ’ab ‘Abd al-Wadūd (‘Abd al-Malik Drūkdīl) — On the Failed France Operation

Video message from al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib’s Abū Muṣ’ab ‘Abd al-Wadūd (‘Abd al-Malik Drūkdīl): “We Don’t Surrender…We Win or We Die”

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: Flashpoint Partners released a transcript of  Abū Muṣ’ab ‘Abd al-Wadūd’s (‘Abd al-Malik Drūkdīl) most recent audio message titled: “We Don’t Surrender…We Win or We Die.” Here is a brief abstract of the transcript and below it is the entire transcript:

On July 29, 2010, an audiotape featuring Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) commander Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud was released titled, “We Don’t Surrender…We Win or We Die.” In the tape, Abdel Wadoud argued that “calls to recede and surrender are proof and a confession from the enemy that the military solution has failed, as the apostates have realized that defeating the mujahideen militarily is highly impossible…the sword destroyed the arrogance of those murdering criminals who shed much of the Muslim blood. And we praise Allah because the rains of bullets and the infiltrations of the intended-martyrs and the detonation of explosive devices shattered their hegemony and brought humiliation upon them.” He then vowed: “We do not surrender. We win or we die. We do not surrender. We win or we die. First you have to fight our Jihadist generation and our men who are spread in the mountains and the valleys, in the cities and the deserts…” The U.S. Treasury Department has noted that in 2006 Abdel Wadoud “stated that he had consulted with…Ayman al-Zawahiri regarding AQIM’s upcoming plans and missions in Algeria and the Maghreb countries.”

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Al-Andalus Media presents a new video from al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb: "The expedition of Al-Mansura"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

NOTE: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), based in Algeria, but conducts activities in other countries such as Mali, Mauritania and Morocco, has released a new propaganda video, which according to AbuMandM, who has watched the video already, alledges that AQIM has infiltrated the Algerian security services.
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Best Articles of the Past Week – 6/12-6/18

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

Sunday June 13:
“Lashkar-i-Taiba: Roots, Logistics, Partnerships, and the Fallacy of Subservient Proxies” – Ryan Clarke, Terrorism and Political Violence, Volume 22 Issue 3, July 2010, 395-418: https://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a922884886~frm=titlelink
Monday June 14:
“Jihad Is Not the Medicine for Every Disease” – Mark Stout, On War and Words: https://onwarandwords.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/jihad-is-not-the-medicine-for-every-disease/
“AfPak Behind the Lines: Taliban reconciliation” – Interview with Thomas Ruttig, The AfPak Channel: https://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/14/afpak_behind_the_lines_thomas_ruttig
“Barack Obama face au spectre Al-Qaida” – Jean-Pierre Filiu, Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2010/06/14/barack-obama-face-au-spectre-al-qaida_1372437_3232.html
Tuesday June 15:
“Catherine Zara Raymond — Al Muhajiroun and Islam4UK- The group behind the ban” – Catherine Zara Raymond, The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, May 2010:  https://icsr.info/publications/papers/1276697989CatherineZaraRaymondICSRPaper.pdf
Wednesday June 16:
“Afghanistan: Graveyard of Assumptions?” – Andrew Exum, Abu Muqawama Blog: https://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama/2010/06/afghanistan-graveyard-assumptions.html
Thursday June 17:
“World Cup Fatwa” – Mathilde Aarseth, Jihadica: https://www.jihadica.com/world-cup-fatwa/
“Coddling Pakistan’s Islamists” – Rania Abouzeid, The AfPak Channel: https://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/17/coddling_pakistans_islamists
“The Hollow Arab Core” – Marc Lynch, The Middle East Channel: https://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/17/the_hollow_arab_core
“Terrorists Versus Soccer” – Adam Serwer, The American Prospect: https://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=terrorists_v_soccer
“English Translation of Abū Walīd’s Response to Charles Cameron” – al-Maktabah Blog: https://azelin.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/english-translation-of-abu-walids-response-to-charles-cameron/
“The Legal War on Terror for the week of 6/11-6/17” – Andrew Lebovich, Foreign Policy: https://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/17/the_lwot_grand_jury_returns_shahzad_indictment_supreme_court_rejects_rendition_lawsuit
“Pak intelligence pulls Taliban strings: New report gives an inside view of our ally’s double game” – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, The Washington Times: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/17/pak-intelligence-pulls-taliban-strings/
Friday June 18:
“Could the Taliban Take Over Pakistan’s Punjab Province?” – Ahmad Majidyar, The American Enterprise Institute: https://www.aei.org/docLib/02-MEO-June-2010-g.pdf