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Terror Networks

Al Qaeda websites hacked

2013-05-17

[WashTimes] Three of al Qaeda's major websites for recruiting Ansar al-Mujahidin, Shumukh al-Islam and Al Fida -- all accredited as official outlets of the terrorist group once led by the late Osama bin Laden ... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel... -- were knocked off the Internet by cyberattacks in early May. Dear me. Two of the sites -- Ansar al-Mujahidin (as-ansar.com) and Shumukh al-Islam (shamikh1.info) -- came back up Monday and Tuesday. The site Al Fida remains down. Pro Forma Warning: visiting those links may bring you unwanted attention. If you insist on satisfying your curiosity, please take the appropriate precautions, whatever those might be. Counterterrorism Internet monitors told Inside the Ring that a posting on Facebook Golly, Facebook'll let just anybody join, it seems. by a member of a hacker group Qassam HackeRs, which supports the Paleostinian terrorist group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, claimed credit for the cyberattacks. In an online posting that could not be verified, one of the Hamas hackers claimed that service to Ansar al-Mujahidin would continue to be disrupted until al Qaeda stops labeling members of Hamas' military wing, the Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, "infidels." The poor darlings are skinless people in a sandpaper world. All three websites are closely monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies and are considered key sources of information about the group. Good. The disruptions are prompting many jihadists to shift from Web forums to Twitter for communications and propaganda messaging. Speculation that the cyberattacks were part of an intergroup rivalry is based on a dispute among gunnies over the announcement in April that al Qaeda in Iraq had merged with the pro-al Qaeda Syrian rebel group Al Nusrah Front. No doubt soon to be cleverly renamed Al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, in imitation of the nearly defunct Ba'ath party. The merger prompted accusations that the Iraqi group had been infiltrated by hostile intelligence services. Oh? How amusing. One does most certainly hope so.

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Africa North

Ansar al Sharia Egypt releases founding statement

2012-11-20

Ansar al Sharia Egypt has published its founding statement online. The group says that "preaching and jihad are two wings that are indispensable to the spread of Islam," according to a translation prepared by the SITE Intelligence Group. And the group outlines sixteen goals with that two-pronged approach in mind. In addition to calling for the implementation of sharia law, and the resurrection of the Caliphate, the organization says it will work towards "the liberation of the Muslim lands from foreign invasion" and resist "modern colonialism, especially the Zionist-Crusader colonialism that is led by America and the West." Ansar al Sharia Egypt also says, according to SITE's translation, that it will support "the mujahideen and their movements and groups in the different lands of the Muslims so as to resist the Zionist-Crusader colonization, and this comes at the head of our priorities." The founding statement is signed by Ahmed Ashush, a high-profile jihadist who has longstanding ties to al Qaeda. During a recent television appearance, Ashush criticized Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi for not imposing sharia law. Ashush has consistently denounced the democratic process as well. On Sept. 16, less than a week after the Sept. 11 protest at the US embassy in Cairo, Ashush released a fatwa online calling for the makers of the film "Innocence of Muslims" to be killed. "He who kills them is due the reward given to a mujahid from Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He," Ashush claimed, according to a translation by SITE. "So, hurry, hurry, O Muslim youth in America and Europe, and teach those filthy lowly ones a lesson that all the monkeys and pigs in America and Europe will understand." BBC Monitoring reported that Ashush's fatwa "was advertised prominently on the main page of the key pro-al Qaeda website Shumukh al Islam, which has promoted the works of Ashush in the past." After Ashush's fatwa was released, the Associated Press reported that he is an "al Qaeda-linked Egyptian jihadist...who was believed close to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda's current No. 1, Ayman al Zawahiri."

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Southeast Asia

Filipino terror network tied to YouTube, Facebook

2012-09-13

On November 6, 2011, a Filipino man uploaded a video on YouTube. In the video he wore a camouflage jacket and a mask covered his face and head. In Arabic he asked Muslims to support and contribute to the jihad in the Philippines. Identified as Commander Abu Jihad Khalil al-Rahman al-Luzon, the man called on Muslims to unite, saying there was "no way to restore the Islamic Caliphate and the glory of the religion but through jihad." It triggered a big reaction in the Philippines, triggering a wave of videos, letters and audio messages from Filipino jihadists which were promoted on al-Qaeda linked sites and jihadist websites like Shumukh al-Islam and Ansar al-Mujahideen English Forum (AMEF). Sources from 3 different countries say that Abu Jihad Khalil is 31-year old Khalil Pareja, a Christian convert to Islam who became the leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement in 2005. RSM worked closely with the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. Their alliance carried out at least two attacks: the Superferry bombing in 2004, one of the worst maritime terrorist attacks in history; and the Valentine's Day bombings in 2005 -- two near-simultaneous explosions in General Santos City and Davao City, followed an hour later by an explosion on a bus in Makati. A Philippine intelligence report said that Pareja not only made jihadi posts on YouTube, he was also active on Facebook -- a case study of how one man can connect jihadis and terrorists from many countries through social media.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attack in Syria

2012-02-27

A recently formed jihadist group known as the Al Nusrah Front claimed credit for a suicide attack in the Syrian city of Homs. The Al Nusrah Front is one of two Islamist terror groups in Homs to have announced their existence in the past month to battle President Bashir al Assad's regime. The Al Nusrah Front to Protect the Levant released a 45-minute-long videotape today on the al Qaeda-linked Shumukh al Islam web forum. The video was translated by the SITE Intelligence group. In the video, Al Nusrah said the "martyrdom-seeking operation" was executed "in revenge for our mother Umm Abdullah - from the city of Homs- against whom the criminals of the regime violated her dignity and threatened to slaughter her son," SITE reported. The suicide bomber was identified as Abu al Bara'a al Shami, who is seen on the tape giving a martyrdom statement. The video also shows "an excerpt of allegiances, operations, and training of the al-Nusra Front" as well as a fighter "amongst the masses in a public demonstration, advising them to do their prayers and adhere to the rituals of Islam."

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Afghanistan

Jordanian al Qaedan Blown Up in Afghanistan

2011-06-15

Killed by air raid or artillery, or both. A martyrdom statement for Mahmoud Hamdan Nizal, who was known as Abu Dher al Urduni, was published by a member of the Shumukh al-Islam forum, which is frequented by members of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The statement was released on June 12, 2011 and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. Nizal was from the Jordanian city of Zarqa, the home town of slain al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Doesn't speak well of that town, does it? According to the statement, Nizal was killed during US air and artillery strikes in the Bermel district of Paktika province "where the lions of al Qaeda were in an operation against a base belonging to the Crusaders." The date of Nizal's death was not disclosed. Nizal was "preparing rockets to launch at the filthy base of the Crusaders" when he and his team were discovered by US troops, who launched a counterattack. Well, pre-emptive strike, more than a counterattack, but who's quibbling.

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Africa North

Egypt minister pelted with stones as cleric accuses Pope of meddling

2011-01-04

[The Nation (Nairobi)] Angry Christian demonstrators pelted an Egyptian minister with stones yesterday, as fears rose of sectarian unrest after a bombing at a church that killed 21 people. Hundreds of Coptic Christians gathered inside the gates of Cairo's St Mark's Cathedral where the Coptic pope, Shenouda III, has his headquarters and heckled officials who came to pay condolences. Demonstrators chased the state minister for economic development, Osman Mohammed Osman, to his car and pelted him with stones after he met Shenouda, while others clashed with police standing outside the gates. A police official said at least 40 coppers suffered light wounds when the protesters pelted them with stones. More than a thousand protesters broke through the gates and spilled into nearby streets, stopping cars, banging on their hoods and pelting them with stones. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Egypt's top Mohammedan holy man yesterday criticised Pope Benedict XVI's call for world leaders to defend Christians as interference in his country's affairs, the official MENA news agency reported. The call, following the deadly car-bombing targeting a Coptic church in Alexandria northern Egypt, was "unacceptable interference in Egypt's affairs," Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the oldest Islamic seat of learning, told news hounds. "I disagree with the pope's view, and I ask why did the pope not call for the protection of Mohammedans when they were subjected to killings in Iraq?" he said at a news conference. The Vatican immediately rejected the accusation, saying the head of the Roman Catholic Church had shown solidarity with the Coptic community as well as concern for the consequences of the violence for the Christian and Mohammedan population. "Therefore we cannot see how the pope's approach to bring everybody to accept non-violence can be considered meddling," ANSA news agency quoted Vatican front man Federico Lombardi as saying. Meanwhile, ...back at the other ranch... Egypt was on high alert today ahead of the Coptic Christmas holiday following the church bombing. Police cancelled leave for senior officers and were tightening surveillance of airports and ports to prevent suspects from leaving the country, as new checkpoints were set up across the nation. Security was also to be beefed up at churches for Christmas which Copts celebrate on January 7, security officials said. Latest reports say an Al-Qaeda website had identified in December the church in Alexandria, Egypt, which was bombed as being among Coptic places designated as targets. Al-Qiddissin (The Saints) church, where 21 people were killed and 79 maimed in Saturday's bombing, was on a list posted by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shumukh al-Islam website of 50 Coptic churches across Egypt. Coptic churches in several European countries, including La Belle France, Germany and Britain, also figured on the list which was posted on December 2. A message announcing "bomb attacks against churches during Christmas... when they will be most crowded" was posted alongside the list of would-be targets. "Get up and give up sleep," said the message. "This is an important notice on bomb attacks against churches during Christmas," it said. It urged "every Mohammedan who cares about the honour of his sisters to bomb these churches during Christmas celebrations, when they will be most crowded."

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Terror Networks

Jihadi wannabe threatens Christmas fireworks

2010-12-25

Somehow I've managed to miss the tradition of Christmas fireworks displays. An audiotaped threat, entitled "The Zero Hour has arrived" and directed to "the unbeliever and Christian countries celebrating Christmas", a 'jihadist' said Christmas fireworks displays will set off terrorist bombs, the SITE monitoring group said. The one minute recording bears the voice of a member of the Shumukh al-Islam forum, said the monitor. According to SITE, the speaker claimed failure to heed warnings to stop bloodshed in Muslim countries would result in attacks. "Your (Christmas) fireworks will act as an alarm for the time of our devices to blow up -- devices that we, not Santa Claus, are going to offer to you as gifts, to turn your night into day and your blood into rivers," he said.

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