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Issue 23 of "Voice of Khurasan," an English-language monthly magazine published by Al-Azaim Media Foundation, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which defines itself as a supporting entity for the Islamic State (ISIS), warns of attacks in India, advances the view that jihadis engaged in media war are spokesmen of Islam, and ridicules the American superpower for being scared of balloons, among other such articles promoting jihad.
Issue 23 of the magazine is dated Shaaban 1444, in the Hijri calendar, which corresponds with the lunar month beginning February 22, 2023.[1]
In an article titled "And Gas Balloon Intimidates The Goliath Of The Time," ISKP says that despite being a superpower, America is now frightened of harmless things such as hot-air balloons, which were shot down by the U.S. military, and even sunflower fields. "Tyrannical military powers are sometimes afraid of their own ominous shadows, and such a fear sometimes makes them more aggressive, just as venomous snakes bite out of fear," it says.
The article states: "America, the largest military spender of the earth, is now afraid of gas balloons flying over its sky. And such a fearful response overlooked its own unwholesome records of worldwide surveillance and bombing for the sake of global policing... in the year 2021, in Bulgaria, the US army attacked a sunflower oil factory." It also cites cases from Italy and Austria to further its argument that powers of the day act out of fear.
Regarding the U.S. military shooting down the Chinese balloon in U.S. airspace and some balloons that may have belonged to hobbyists, ISKP states: "The most interesting part of this comedy show is that the largest military spender of earth, the Goliath of the time, takes out such mere hobbyist's balloon with multimillion dollar priced weapons without proper scrutiny."
"Such an unidentified gas balloon can cause great fear of the U.S., a big monster deprived of sound intellect, so what if the unidentified soldiers of Allah bring American cosmopolitan cities to knees due to the flames of just terror that the Goliath failed to deal with effectively up until now, since it has found no way for tackling the 'open source radicalization' other than isolating the citizens of the No. 1 country of the world by disconnecting the internet service, which is like striking own leg with axe," it warns.
"Undoubtedly, America, the chief of the defiantly disobedient nations of this age, claims to be the only authorized 'Global Police Force' of this era, and it doesn't deprive even its own citizens from its surveillance activities," it states, adding: "Taghut [tyrant] Biden administration must be bragging about their 'tough on defense' stance through eliminating spy balloon, as significant (!) as mosquito, with a $400,000 air-to-air guided missile."
A short story in the magazine, titled "Stones Turned Red," tells of a foreign fighter, his family, and the difficulties they go through. An article titled "Strengthen The Media War" cites numerous hadiths (traditions of Prophet Muhammad), saying that the founder of Islam used poets, speakers, and narrators to speak on his behalf from public platforms and from the pulpit of mosques. Based on these examples, ISKP advances the view that today's mujahideen are spokesmen of Islam and Muslims.
"The heroes of the announcement, who spread the voice of Tawheed [Islamic monotheism], Sunnah, and Khilafah [caliphate] to every corner of the world with the help of pen and tongue, are the ones who remain happy both in this world and in the Hereafter. They refute every objection of falsehood; they decapitate the suspicions of Jews, Christians, atheists, and seculars with the sword of Umar bin Khattab. Those are the mujahideen who bear heavy burden in order to obliterate ignorance through pen and tongue from the Islamic Ummah," it states.
It accuses social media networks of removing ISIS content while permitting Taliban content. "The prominent social media outlets (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, etc.) are an effective tool of kuffar [unbelievers], and there is nothing to wonder about the fact that if statements, audios, videos, and other media releases of the khilafah are publicly published on the social media pages and channels, they are immediately removed," it says.
The magazine's table of contents
In the cover article, titled "Pakistan – A Tumor In The Body Of Islamic Ummah," ISKP accuses the Pakistan's leading Islamic religious scholars, such as Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mufti Taqi Usmani, of supporting the fatwa for jihad in Afghanistan while criticizing the jihad underway in Pakistan as fitna ("strife").
The article describes Pakistan as "a tumor in the body of Islamic Ummah" and says that the Islamic religious scholars in Pakistan are "palace scholars" who support the government. It accuses Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mufti Taqi Usmani, and Maulana Sirajul Haq, among others, of allying with the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and supporting jihadi organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad because these were created by ISI.
"The intelligence of Pakistan (ISI), like that in the past, once again is passing through difficult days due to declining economy, when it has gathered a few Bal'amah (the chiefs of those who spread mischief upon the earth) from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa state, and they published a resolution [fatwa against jihad], calling the system of Pakistan as the Islamic system and the war against it illegal," it says, without naming Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which was the main target of the fatwa for waging jihad against the Pakistani military in the border region.
The long article explains ISI's connections to jihadi organizations in Afghanistan, especially since the 1990s, including how it propped up Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar. The article quotes then Pakistani intelligence officer Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar aka Colonel Imam as saying: "Mullah Omar came to the camp, he was given military training there... He was in [Burhanuddin] Rabbani's party... He took part in the war after his training and got injured, we treated him in Karachi... He and I had a meeting in 1995."
In a cover article, titled "A Message To The Inhabitants In The Land Occupied By Cow And Mice Worshipping Filths," ISKP warns of attacks in India and claimed attacks in India in the cities of Coimbatore in October 2022 and Mangalore (which it mis-identified as Bangalore) in November 2022. The article is a message from one Abu Yasir Al-Hindi.
"This is a message to the cow-worshipping, filthy Hindus, especially the satanic BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi] and their dogs in police and military. O Kuffar! O enemies of Allah and his Prophet [Muhammad], and his sincere slaves, know that your transgression has crossed all limits and your hatred of Islam, and its people has been shown in words and deeds," ISKP says in the article.
It calls on Muslims to move to a territory controlled by jihadi groups. "For those who cannot perform hijrah make dar al-kufr [land of unbelief] your battle ground. Put your trust in Allah, take a knife and slice the kafir's [unbeliever's] throat, poison his food, burn their houses and greenery, turn their joy to sorrow, and strike terror in their hearts with Allah's help. Know that jihad is obligation upon every Muslim whether he likes it or not," it states.
The magazine also carries a round-up of ISIS operations around the world, especially from the following Wilayahs ("provinces") of the Islamic State: Sahel, West Africa, Iraq Wilayah – North Baghdad, Pakistan, and Mozambique.
The cover article warned of attacks in India
One of the articles, titled "Victory Belongs To The Patient," observes: "We are going through an age of materialism. Everything is judged in terms of numbers. Number is the perimeter for measuring people's level of happiness. Digitalization of the modern systems has transformed human races into robots, as they are literally controlled by digital signal which is based on numerical system. And with the passing of time, the concept of 'time is money' is manoeuvring people's emotions and endeavour more and more, as if the Hollywood movie style 'artificial reality' is becoming the actual unpleasant reality."
"If we consider the cost of the modern weapon systems of the disbelieving forces being used against the less equipped mujahideen, we will find that these haughty gutless disbelieving forces have been using artillery shells for eliminating little birds, sometimes as small as mosquitos. Think about precision guided munitions used by the infidel forces against the mujahideen in different parts of the world," it says.
"On the contrary, consider the simple but effective tactics used by Khilafah soldiers against the soldiers of kufr [unbelief]. Think about the high-tech M1 Abrams main battle tank of the U.S. It costs over $10 million, including training and maintenance. And such high tech toys were destroyed by mujahideen in Iraq, Sham, and Afghanistan by very simple explosive device that costs not more than a few hundred bucks maximum," it says.
It quotes the fourth Islamic caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib as saying: "Patience is a virtue by which anything can be achieved." It adds: "And history is a witness to the fact that military might devoid of patience was never the determining factor in wars." The article, teaching patience among the ISIS fighters, quotes Napoleon Bonaparte: "Victory belongs to the most preserving [sic., persevering]... In war moral is to the physical as three to one."
[1] March 5, 2023. The original English of the quoted texts in this dispatch has been lightly edited for clarity and standardization.
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