Category: Nigeria

al-Andalus Media presents a new statement from al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib: "On the Killing of the German Prisoner in Nigeria"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

UPDATE 6/15/12 2:56 PM: Here is an English translation of the below Arabic statement:

Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib — “On the Killing of the German Prisoner in Nigeria” (En)
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Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib — “On the Killing of the German Prisoner in Nigeria”
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New video message from Boko Haram (Jamā’at Ahl al-Sunnah li Da’wah wa-l-Jihād): "Reasons For Attacking Thisday Newspaper"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin


Video Message:

Transcription in English:
“This is a message from the public awareness department of the Jamatu Ahlis sunnah lil daawati wal jihad, a group engaged in jihad in Nigeria.
“We wish to explain about the attack we carried out on Thisday Newspapers. Some of the reasons why we decided to attack some Media Houses, especially Thisday, is because the paper was used in dishonouring our prophet, Mohammad (SAW) during a beauty pageant in Kaduna in November 2002.
“At that time, some people who called themselves leaders of Muslims came out to say they have forgiven those who committed the offence.
“But based on our knowledge, we know that no one has the power to forgive anyone for an offence that God himself has given judgement, especially on an offence that has to do with dishonouring Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
“No one has the power to forgive this type of offence, and the judgement is for such persons to be killed.
“This lady that committed this crime, the judgement on her is to be killed at any opportunity; and the media house is also supposed to be driven out of existence whenever there is a chance to do so.
“We are just getting the opportunity to attack the media house, and we are hoping to continue these attacks until we drive them out of existence.
“It is our hope that Allah (SWT) will help his religion.
“We know that any genuine Muslim must have been deeply touched by the Thisday incident.
“Thisday newspaper is also leading in helping the government in fighting us, alongside other media houses that we will mention soon.
“Some of the offences of Thisday and other media outlets include: firstly, during the botched attempt to rescue some kidnapped foreign nationals in Sokoto; these media houses asked us if we have anything to do with the kidnap and we said we have nothing to do with it, yet these media houses reported that we were responsible for the incident, that was a lie against us.
“Secondly, when we sent a video of our leader, Abubakar Shekau, the media houses reported things that our leader did not say, such as that in response to the president’s threat to finish us in three months, we have also threatened to finish the government in three months. But the truth is, nowhere in the video did our leader said what they attributed to him.
“Thirdly, on the purported arrest of Abu Qaqa by the SSS, we have come out to tell them that the person arrested was not Abu Qaqa,yet the media continue to potray us as liars, and even said that our leader had ordered for Abu Qaqa II to be executed, and we are now searching for Abu Qaqa III.
“Recently too, they came out with another lie that one Mohammed Awwal Kontagora was the Abu Qaqa II that was executed, and that even his parents confirmed it, that was just a big lie to convince the world.
“The media also said that we have killed the father of Abu Darda, so as to pass a message to him, because he had leaked our secrets after his arrest by security agencies, and they  wanted him to know that he is one of our targets.
“These are all lies, and they are many.
“These media houses have committed a lot of offences that is detrimental to Islam, and we don’t have the power to forgive them. We will take revenge on them by God’s grace, some of these media houses have been categorized into three groups.
“The first group is the likes of Thisday whose offences are big.
“The second group we will also attack soon are Punch, Daily Sun, Vanguard, Guardian, Nation, Tribune, and National Accord, which are all newspaper houses.
“There is also VOA Hausa radio. All these media houses we will attack them including their staff and offices, by God’s grace.
“VOA Hausa for instance have recently started campaigning for people to support the government against us by exposing us,
“The next group that are on the verge of joining this list who if they are not careful we will attack very soon include, Leadership, Daily Trust, Peoples Daily and RFI(Radio France international)
“There is an online medium known as Saharareporters who have their office in New York, and who have made their site as a platform for attack against Islam. So we are warning them to stop making their site an avenue for attacking Islam, otherwise we will find a way of attacking them too.
“We resorted to using this medium to send our message instead of the normal tele-conference because of the fear by journalists; which made them refuse to conduct the conference.
“We are grateful to God for the success recorded on the attack on Thisday, and we hope to continue such attacks.
“Finally, the government has now resorted to arresting our wives and children and also demolishing our houses, like they did in Biu recently, that is why we have also resolved to start attacking government schools, especially, tertiary ones.
“We promise to demolish 500 buildings for any one of our houses that the government destroys.
“We have already started with Gombe and Kano.”
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New video message from Boko Haram’s (Jamā’at Ahl al-Sunnah li Da’wah wa-l-Jihād) Amīr Imām Abū Bakr Shekau: "We Are Coming To Get You Jonathan"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

UPDATE: 4/13/12 8:21 AM: Here is an English translation of the below Arabic video message:
Oh you people, oh you people. I want you all to listen to me carefully; listen to this servant of God who has no other duty to pursue on earth except the propagation and the fighting on the cause of Allah.
We want to respond to the laughable pronouncement of President Jonathan  that we will be defeated within the next three months.
We have listened to his proclamation and understand that nobody talks like this except one that has stayed off the path of his divine creator.
But he should know that we have given the assurance and have committed faith in God that nothing can be done to subdue us. With all glory to God, our divine desire is that all of us should be killed as martyrs on the path of God, so as to enable us be blessed with the rewards of Allah as promised in His holy book, Al Qur’an.
This is the only mission before us, and we have prayed that Allah should purify our minds with faith and strengthen our minds on His cause. We have sworn and we are telling you Jonathan that there is nothing that you can do to stop us. Those that have preceded you in that office have not been able to do anything to us even though they have bragged as you are doing now – since the eras of King Pharaoh and those that came before Pharaoh up till the present time; if you see a person not walking on the path of God, you will always hear such making empty threats. But for us we have nothing but the worship and the trusting in God almighty; Allah is enough as our protector.
We also want people to understand that we have no intention in killing any one or maiming people indiscriminately; there may be some persons or group of persons that are going after people terrorising them or extorting them under our revered umbrella or name, but we want to tell the world that we are not with those people and we don’t know them.
People may not really understand or differentiate us with those people, but there will certainly be a day when God will make things clear for the whole world to understand where we stand. To those that we kill, it has been established that they have constituted themselves as affront to the cause of God. This is a message we have for the world and especially those that have been making empty threats about us.
We will not bother ourselves engaging in too many talks, neither are we going to worry about the talks of the people, except on issue that will be of benefit to the people. We pray Allah to continue to support us on this mission and make us to continue in this mission with no purpose other than His worship.
We have prayed that God should give us the privilege of being amongst those killed in the path of the struggle for the establishment of His dominion.
You people of Government and security agencies are busy boasting and priding yourselves with the killings and attacks on us …(quoting some qur’anic verses) How we wish that Muslim faithful will sit down and ponder over the Quranic verses, he will understand any time that an unbeliever catches one or kills one, he will definitely laugh at the follies of such unbeliever. God has said that it won’t take a longer period for such persecution to last; so don’t be discouraged, and don’t be disheartened with what you are facing in this movement, because you the believers and the exalted ones. I want the world to know that even if I was trampled upon, with my head pressed to the ground and people are beating are mobbing me, I still remain the exalted in the sight of Allah; If I am but a sincere believer. Even if we were maimed or injured on this mission, Allah has said it that many who fought similar religious holy wars may have suffered worst persecution.
In this movement God has said that if will 1000 people today, and by tomorrow they come to kill a hundred from amongst us, Allah has said that He is the one allowing it to test our faith in Him, so that those that have professed faith in God will be able to know who from amongst them are truly the sincere believers. It is from all these arrests and killings of our people that we have witnessed in the recent times, we will be able to know those who are of weak faith and those that are the true believers in Allah.
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To inquire about a translation for this video message for a fee email: [email protected]

al-Andalus Media presents a new statement and video message from al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib: "To the German Government: If They Release Umm Sayf Allah al-Anṣārī Then We Will Release To You Our Prisoner"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin

UPDATE 3/23/12 4:13 PM: Click here for an English translation of the below Arabic statement.
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Statement:
Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: al-Qā’idah in the Islamic Maghrib — “To the German Government- If They Release Umm Sayf Allah al-Anṣārī Then We Will Release To You Our Prisoner”
Video Message:

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To inquire about a translation for this statement and video message for a fee email: [email protected]

New press conference from Boko Haram’s (Jamā’at Ahl al-Sunnah li Da’wah wa-l-Jihād) spokesperson Abū Qaqa: "Regarding Negotiations With the Nigerian Government"

Posted on by Aaron Y. Zelin


Abu Qaqa: This is an important message on the issue that occupied the media inrespect of negotiaitions between our group and the government.
Not long ago, President Goodluck Jonathan made a public statement urging us to come forward for dialogue. He also said we should make our demands clear with a view to resolving the protracted problem in the country.
The first condition we gave was the need for unconditional release of all our members. There was initial meeting between us and the government and in the process, one of our members, Abu Dardaa was arrested in Kaduna.
Since then, we never trusted the government. However, following endless plea by some notable Nigerian, whom we have enormous respect for, we resolved to give another chance.
These people said they would intercede between us and the government, they said they have the capacity and we trusted them, unfortunately however, the opportunity was messed up.
Almighty God has told us repeatedly that the unbelievers will never respect the promises they made. As such, henceforth, we would never respect any proposal for dialogue.
In fact, we have closed all possible doors of negotiation. We would never listen to any call for negotiations. Let the government forces do whatever they feel they can do and we too would use all the ware withal at our disposal and do what we can.
If the government thinks arresting our members will discourage us from launching onslaught, then let them continue arresting and killing our members.
We strongly believe that Almighty Allah will give us the power to catch and prosecute government forces. We are optimistic that we would dismantle this government and establish Islamic government in Nigeria.
Let the federal government and its agents do what they can; and we in return, would also do what we can.
The noble prophet Mohammed was also tried and tested during the war of Uhud, he persevered and at the end of the day, he emerged victorious.
The fact is that, we don’t have an element of doubt in our minds that one day, we would surely emerge victorious from this onerous encounter. We are calling on all Muslims in this part of the world to accept the clarion call and fight for the restoration of the Caliphate of Usman Danfodio which white the white man fought and fragmented. The white man killed prominent Islamic clerics and emirs and also replaced the white Islamic flag with the Union Jack.
We want all our people to come together and restore our loss glory.
Questions and answers
Are you aware of the moves made by Dr Datti Ahmed?
Qaqa: Yes, Datti Ahmed and his people have intimated us that they would makeattempt and find a platform on which we would meet with government agents and find solution to the crisis. Datti also assured that he will get back to us on what transpired between his group and the government. We gave him our conditions.
A journalist was threatened, what is your position?
Qaqa: We are following unfolding events. Some people threatened a journalist and he was frightened. The truth is that, the same journalist was the very person that created a link between us and the Datti Ahmed group. We want to advice him and all journalists not to be deterred by the threat. Journalists must also adhere to the ethics of their professional calling because, all over the world, everybody knows therole of the journalist. Journalists must remain courageous and upright.
The issue of Boko Haram is now a global phenomenon. Some people said government was hesitant by the move by Datti Ahmed because there was no assurance that the move was true?
Qaqa: We are really involved in the moves made by Dr Datti Ahmed because they gave us adequate assurance that they have the capacity to deliver. However, they (Datti and Co) have seen how deceitful the federal government is. As far as we are concerned, we know that the federal government will not live up to its responsibility.A true believer will not allow himself to be cheated twice.
What do you think the FG did that prompted you to back out?
Qaqa: The truth is that we have been doubtful on the seriousness and purposeful commitment of the government. It was the Datti group that thought the federal government could be trusted and they have been disappointed.
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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