[Scott Sanford] Abu Kandahar (أبو قندهار) reported on Ekhlaas that coalition forces, “crusaders,” killed Ekhlaas member Abu Hurayra 2 (أبو هريرة 2), a major contributor to Ekhlaas, in northern Iraq’s Ninawa province on 21 August 2008. Abu Kandahar is a main contributor to Ekhlaas and Ekhlaas has given him the title of “distinguished pen (قلم [...]
Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category
Major Contributor to Ekhlaas Killed in Iraq
Posted: 24th August 2008 by Will McCants in AQ in Iraq, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq3
The Adventures of Sinam
Posted: 15th August 2008 by Will McCants in AQ in Iraq, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, Travel RoutesTags: al-Qaeda in, Haditha, Haqlaniya, Islamic State of Iraq, martyrdom
On August 9, a member of the Islamic State of Iraq announced–via an intermediary on the Ekhlaas forum–the death of Sinam al-Ramadi. Sinam was an al-Qaeda member who operated in Ramadi and who participated on a number of forums, including Faloja. On the day of the announcement, an Ekhlaas member named Halima posted an eyewitness [...]
New Issues of Two Jihadi Journals
Posted: 14th August 2008 by Will McCants in Afghanistan, Hamas, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, Jihadi journals, Strategy, training campsTags: Hamas, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, Jihadi journals, Strategy, training, Zawahiri
Issue 28 of Sada al-Jihad is out. Articles include, “Hamas Responds Negatively to the Invitation of Shaykh Ayman al-Zawahiri” and “The Intellectual Pollution of the Followers of the Salafi-Jihadi Method.” A new journal, Qadaya Jihadiyya (Jihadi Issues), has also be released. The production quality is better than most of the Jihadi journals and the articles [...]
Spinning the Failure of the Islamic State of Iraq
Posted: 13th August 2008 by Will McCants in AQ in Iraq, Iraq, Islamic State of IraqTags: Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq
More evidence that the failure of the Islamic State of Iraq is severely demoralizing Jihadis, at least in the Arabic-speaking world. Asad al-Jihad2, a popular commentator, has written a new booklet, “The State of Islam Remains Defiant.” In it, he seeks to assuage growing doubts about the viability of the Islamic State of Iraq: Upon [...]
Jihadis Apprehensive About the Future
Posted: 7th August 2008 by Will McCants in Afghanistan, AQ in Iraq, Iraq, MotivationsTags: Afghanistan, Iraq, morale
Jihadica reader Jallen asks some good questions about the pessimism of Jihadis regarding Iraq: How long have forum members been pessimistic over Iraq? Is the pessimism widespread or just a few members in one forum? Is pessimism over Iraq matched by increased optimism over Afghanistan or are these independent? It depends which forum you read. [...]
Ekhlaas Members Travel to Somalia, Iraq
Posted: 27th July 2008 by Will McCants in Iraq, Somalia, Travel RoutesTags: foreign fighters, Iraq, Somalia
Under_cover2, a member of Ekhlaas, announced two weeks ago that two of his fellow forum members have made the transition from forum fighters to foreign fighters. One went to Somalia, the other to Iraq. Iraq makes sense, particularly for Jihadis living nearby. But Somalia? I don’t see it mentioned much as a destination anymore. Document [...]
25 Kuwaitis Fighting for al-Qaeda in Diyala Province
Posted: 16th July 2008 by Will McCants in AQ in Iraq, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, KuwaitTags: al-Qaeda, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, Kuwait
That’s the claim of Abu Islam al-`Iraqi, one of the leaders of the “popular committees” in Diyala Province. 25 seems high, but it dovetails with what I wrote about the Harbi group last week.
New Issues of Three Jihadi Journals
Posted: 15th July 2008 by Will McCants in Iraq, Jihadi journals, YemenTags: Iraq, Jihadi journals, Yemen
Issue 4 of Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Glorious Battles), the main organ of al-Qaeda in Yemen, is out. One article caught my eye: “Somalia…The Forgotten Land.” Issue 27 of Sada al-Jihad (The Echo of Jihad) is also out. SJ is produced by the Global Islamic Media Front. A few articles look interesting: “Al-Qaeda Is [...]
Walking the Talk: Forum Members Travel to Afghanistan and Iraq (Pt. 3)
Posted: 6th July 2008 by Will McCants in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Recruitment, Travel RoutesTags: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, martyrdom, UAE
Today we continue our look at a Kuwaiti cell and how its members transitioned from forum fighters to foreign fighters. When we left off, Badr al-Harbi and Bawasil had returned to Kuwait from the front in Afghanistan via Iran, entrusted with a special mission by Abu al-Layth al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda leader. They were delayed [...]
How to Raid Wikipedia
Posted: 1st July 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Iraq, technologyTags: Abu `Umar al-Baghdadi, Wikipedia
The title of al-Faruq al-`Iraqi’s post on Ekhlaas is more exciting than the content. Faruq, like countless corporate PR offices, has discovered that Wikipedia entries can be edited by users (although it seems much easier to do on Arabic Wikipedia). As proof, he points readers to his addition of two sections (“supervisory positions” and “the [...]