Al-Qaida magazine warns of more 'lone wolf' attacks

The Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors jihadist Web forums and Internet sites, was the first to publish excerpts from the 11th edition of the 3-year-old magazine, published by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

 

MEMRI says most of the articles focus on the Boston bombings in hopes of inciting Muslims in the West to carry out similar attacks.

 

Steven Stalinsky, executive director of MEMRI, says it is "absolutely" clear that al-Qaida rushed out this "special edition" to take advantage of the intense coverage of the Boston bombings and the knife attack on a British soldier in London on May 22.

 

A message from al-Qaida's Arabian Peninsula's military commander Qassem Al-Rimi warns Americans that such attacks will continue and that the U.S. government is unable to stop them.

 

The magazine was founded by American-born cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, another American. Both were killed by U.S. drone strikes.

 

MEMRI says "the relatively small size of the issue as compared to previous ones, and the sloppy translation and editing" indicate that al-Qaida has not found adequate replacements for Al-Awlaki and Khan.

 

Stalinsky says the latest "special edition," which is the first in about two months, also makes numerous references to spreading its message on Twitter, reflecting an increased focus on social media.

 

According to MEMRI, Inspire's current editor, Yahya Ibrahim, mocks the West for not heeding the magazine's previous threats from "lone-wolf" jihadists.

 

"The responsibility for fighting America and allies is not limited to Al-Qaeda, it is also the duty of every Muslim," he writes. "And as long as America's hand is in the Muslim countries, we will always have our hands in their backyard; their streets, universities, ceremonies, sports events and even forests."

 

Ibrahim credits Inspire with motivating Boston bombings suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar in the attack that killed three people and injured more than 260.

 

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 27, was killed four days after the April 15 bombings during a police shootout that left his 19-year-old brother injured.

 

One article in Inspire features a photoshopped image of Tamerlan, holding a cellphone, against a heavenly backdrop. The caption reads, "Tamerlan's SMS to his mom: 'My dear Mom, I will lay down my life for Islam. I'm gonna die for Islam Inshaa Allah.'"

 

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who has been charged in the attacks and is being held at a prison medical center near Boston, told officials under questioning that the brothers learned how to build their bombs from Inspire's infamous 2010 article "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom," according to The Washington Post.

 

"In the past few weeks, the expression 'Inspired by Inspire' has been tweeted and retweeted," Ibrahim writes. "Yes, the brothers have been inspired by Inspire. This is not only because Inspire offers bomb recipes, but also because of the contents of the magazine as a whole (referring to religious instruction and calls to jihad)."

 

MEMRI's Stalinsky says one article, called "America's Bitter Harvest," also stressed how much money the U.S. authorities had to spend in Boston to respond to an attack that cost the bombers only $400.

 

The magazine also writes about the brutal killing May 22 on a London street of a British soldier, allegedly by two Britons of Nigerian descent who had converted to Islam.

 

"The Western nations should comprehend that the type of these young men who killed the British soldier, are many," according to a writer with the pen name Muhammad Al-San'ani. "They all witness your governments' invasion of Muslim lands."