Note to media and government: For a full copy of Inspire VIII and IX, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email.
Special Announcements - No. 164
Following the Deaths of Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, AQAP Releases Issues VIII and IX of 'Inspire'
On May 2, 2012, the main jihadi forums Shumoukh Al-Islam and Al-Fida' became inactive. By 12:30 pm ET, they were once again accessible, and Issues No. VIII and IX of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP's) English-language jihadi magazine Inspire were posted.
To read the full report, visit Following the Deaths of Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, AQAP Releases Issues VIII and IX of 'Inspire'.
Editor Yahya Ibrahim in Inspire IX: 'Our Capabilities and Skills Have Developed… [Such that They Are Ready] to Be Transferred Now to Virginia'
In an article in the ninth issue of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's English-language magazine, Inspire, titled "Winning on the Ground," editor-in-chief Yahya Ibrahim responded to President Barack Obama's "baseless" claims of having achieved victory against AQAP following the death of radical Yemeni-U.S. Sheikh Anwar Al-'Awlaki. Ibrahim argued that AQAP has, in fact, increased the number of special operations it has carried out in the past two years. Speaking of Al-Awlaki's death and its impact on the continuation of jihad, Ibrahim said it was a victory unto itself and would only serve as "fuel for the coming mujahideen."
To read the full report, visit Editor Yahya Ibrahim in Inspire IX: 'Our Capabilities and Skills Have Developed… [Such that They Are Ready] to Be Transferred Now to Virginia'.
Special Dispatch - No. 4688
AQAP's Inspire IX Magazine Features Last Statements of American Jihadi Samir Khan
The ninth issue of Inspire, an English-language magazine published by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), features the last statement of Samir Khan, the American AQAP media operative who founded the magazine, and who was killed in a U.S. air strike on September 30, 2011. The statement appears in an article written in Khan's memory by another operative named Abu Yazeed, who apprenticed with Khan on the writing and production of Inspire.
To read the full report, visit AQAP's Inspire IX Features Last Statements of American Jihadi Samir Khan.
Special Dispatch - No. 4689
Inspire IX Article Offers Help in Carrying Out One-Man Jihad Operations
The ninth issue of the English-language magazine Inspire, issued by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), includes an article titled "The Convoy of Martyrs: Rise Up and Board with Us", which provides instructions for individuals wishing to carry out lone wolf jihad attacks. The article instructs candidates to send basic information about themselves to AQAP's "military committee," which will help them in planning and executing the attack, and will also take responsibility for it and provide media coverage. The article includes a list of conditions that the candidates must meet, a list of possible targets, and instructions for contacting the committee securely by using encrypted emails.
To read the full report, visit Inspire IX Article Offers Help in Carrying Out One-Man Jihad Operations.
Special Dispatch - No. 4690
AQAP Mufti in Inspire IX: Al-'Awlaki's Death Only Serves to Strengthen the Ummah's Resolve to Continue Jihad
In an article titled "Inspire Continues to Inspire" in Issue IX of Inspire, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) English-language magazine, the organization's mufti, Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Rubaish, dismissed the notion that following the death of late Yemeni-U.S. senior Al-Qaeda figure Anwar Al-'Awlaki, "the magazine [would] be buried along with him." He said that far from hindering his work, "the killing of a preacher only means the spreading of his message." He also noted that American jihadi Samir Khan, killed in the same strike, had been an even more active contributor to the magazine than Al-'Awlaki.
To read the full report, visit AQAP Mufti in Inspire IX: Al-'Awlaki's Death Only Serves to Strengthen the Ummah's Resolve to Continue Jihad.
Special Dispatch - No. 4691
Anwar Al-'Awlaki in Inspire VIII: Targeting Non-Muslim Civilians Is Justified; Targeting U.S. with Explosives Is 'among the Greatest Deeds a Muslim Can Worship Allah with in Our Day and Time'
In an article titled "Targeting the Populations of Countries that Are at War with the Muslims" in Issue VIII of Inspire, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) English-language magazine, late U.S.-Yemeni jihadi Anwar Al-'Awlaki justified the targeting of non-combatant populations (i.e. women and children) in countries at war with Muslims, including with chemical and biological weapons. Inspire previously announced AQAP's intention to hold a Q&A video session with Al-'Awlaki and invited Muslims to submit questions addressed to him. In light of his demise, the article comes to address a question common among these queries.
To read the full report, visit Anwar Al-'Awlaki in Inspire VIII: Targeting Non-Muslim Civilians Is Justified; Targeting U.S. with Explosives Is 'among the Greatest Deeds a Muslim Can Worship Allah with in Our Day and Time'.
Special Dispatch - No. 4692
In Posthumous Rant in Inspire IX, Anwar Al-'Awlaki Speaks of Personal Experiences with U.S. Law Enforcement
In a piece posthumously published in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) English-language magazine, Inspire, the late U.S.-Yemeni jihadi Anwar Al-'Awlaki described his personal experience with U.S. law enforcement agencies in an attempt to debunk official versions regarding his life in the U.S. He opened the piece by claiming to have witnessed "the other face of America,” and concluded by saying that his personal experience is proof that the U.S. is controlled by evil powers and that his enmity of it was justified.
To read the full report, visit In Posthumous Rant in Inspire IX, Anwar Al-'Awlaki Speaks of Personal Experiences with U.S. Law Enforcement.
Special Dispatch - No. 4693
Article in Inspire IX Enumerates the Traits of the Successful Urban Assassin
An article titled "Qualities of an Urban Assassin," published by 'Uthman ibn Al-Ightiyal ("the son of assassination") in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) English-language magazine, described the necessary attributes and precautions of the would-be lone wolf mujahid. It discussed the need for inconspicuousness and integration into one's Western surroundings, with an emphasis on the knowledge and skill set that would enable the mujahid to properly plan and execute attacks in the heart of urban population centers, including technological proficiency. Al-Ightiyal called on the mujahid not to limit their attacks to military or political targets, but to include "anyone that the shari'a allows him to eliminate," including "non-combatants."
To read the full report, visit Article in Inspire IX Enumerates the Traits of the Successful Urban Assassin.
Special Dispatch - No. 4687
In 'Inspire' Issue IX, Sheikh Harith Al-Nadari Describes Anwar Al-'Awlaki's Premonition Of His Own Death
In an article titled "My Story with Al-'Awlaki" in Issue IX of Inspire, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) English-language magazine, author Sheikh Harith Al-Nadari, aka Muhammad Al-Murshidi, told of his acquaintance with the late Yemeni-American cleric and senior Al-Qaeda figure Sheikh Anwar Al-'Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in September 2011. Of particular note is the claim by Al-Nadari, whom Inspire describes as "the speaker of [Al-Eman] University's masjid [mosque] in Sana'a," that following Al-'Awlaki's escape from an attempt on his life in a May 2011 U.S. drone strike, he predicted that the next attempt would likely succeed.
To read the full report, visit In 'Inspire' Issue IX, Sheikh Harith Al-Nadari Describes Anwar Al-'Awlaki's Premonition Of His Own Death.
Special Dispatch - No. 4686
American Jihadi Samir Khan in Issue VIII of 'Inspire': A Muslim's Loyalty Must Be To Islam, Not America
In an article titled "Blended Duality: Muslim and American" appearing in the eighth issue of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) English-language magazine Inspire, American-born jihadi Samir Khan criticized the Muslim community in the U.S. for largely sacrificing its religion for the sake of a comfortable life there. He claimed that a Muslim could not truly reconcile loyalty to Islam with being "proud of being American," adding that there was nothing about America in which Muslims could take pride. He called on the Muslims to emulate those mujahideen who had come out of the U.S.
To read the full report, visit American Jihadi Samir Khan in Issue VIII of 'Inspire': A Muslim's Loyalty Must Be To Islam, Not America.
