Replies

Al Qaeda tears through eight Iraqi cities, leaves more than 100 dead
DEBKAfile Special Report May 11, 2010, 12:54 AM

In an unprecedentedly wild rampage, even for al Qaeda, raider-units, speeding drive-by gun squads, car bombs, and homicidal suicides mowed down checkpoints, liquidated Iraqi soldiers, police and security personnel and murdered civilians, in eight Iraqi cities including the capital, Baghdad, Monday, May 10. By the end of the day, more than 100 people were dead and 300 injured.

The gunmen broke new ground in terrorist tactics when they used automatic weapons fitted with silencers to creep up on their victims. debkafile's military sources report that at dawn, the raiders appeared simultaneously at checkpoints in most quarters of Baghdad. They lowered the windows of their cars when asked for documents, then opened fire with the silenced automatic weapons on the officers manning them.

Then came a deadly wave of massive bombing attacks against police stations, policemen's homes and military patrols in Baghdad and Falujjah to the West and Mosul in the North.

T he single deadliest attack struck civilians in the small town of Suwayrah near Hillah in the South.

There, a pair of remote-controlled car bombs killed eight passersby, following which a suicide bomber blew himself up among the rescue teams, raising the death toll there to 45.

More al death squads hit Balad, Tamiya and Iskandriya.

Al Qaeda was venting its fury for the deaths of two of its senior commanders in Iraq, Abu Amar al Baghdad and Abu Ayub Al-Masri, at the hands of joint US-Iraqi intelligence teams, on April 18.

The two terrorist chiefs were killed by missiles at a hideout in the town of Tharthar northeast of Baghdad. Al Masri's aide and Al-Baghadi's son also died in the attack. debkafile's counter-terror sources note that it took al Qaeda only 22 days to avenge the loss of its commanders and unleash a coordinated reign of terror countrywide that proved its strength was unimpaired.

*************************************
Remember that zebam just told us there were no al qaeda left worth speaking of in Iraq?

American-born Shabaab commander releases recruitment tape
Bill Roggio May 10, 2010 11:24 AM

An American-born member of Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, has released a propaganda tape that is aimed at recruiting Westerners to wage war against their home countries and establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East.

The audiotape, titled "First Stop Addis," features Abu Mansour al Amriki and other members of Shabaab. On the tape, Mansour and three unidentified "North American Brothers," and a Somali, sing a nasheed, or a song without music, in English, extolling the virtues of global jihad. Images of Shabaab forces in combat appear throughout the tape.

Amriki, whose real name is Omar Hammami, is a US citizen who converted to Islam and traveled to Somalia in 2006. Once in Somalia, he quickly rose through the ranks, and now serves as a military commander. Amriki also began appearing in Shabaab propaganda tapes.

"Guerilla warfare from Mogadishu presents... First Stop Addis," Amriki's latest tape begins. Addis is a reference to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. After Ethiopa ousted the Islamic Courts from power in Somalia during an invasion in December 2006, Shabaab began threatening to target Ethiopa.

The tape stresses that Shabaab's war is not confined to Somalia but is global in nature. "From Somalia and Shiishaan (Chechnya), from Iraq and Afghanistan, gonna meet up in the Holy Lands, establishing Allah’s Law on the land," Amriki says in a chorus repeated throughout the song. Amriki and others identify their enemy as the "salib," or crusaders.

The tape is clearly aimed at recruiting Westerners. It is produced in English and uploaded onto YouTube. There are no Somali or Arabic subtitles on the tape. Amriki and the others stress that it is their duty to die in battle.

"My number one goal... die a shaheed," or martyr, is a refrain repeated by Amriki and others throughout the tape.

Shabaab has been successful in recruiting fighters in the US and in Europe. The US believes that scores of Muslims living in the US have been recruited and trained in camps in Somalia. And Britain believes that more than 200 Muslims have departed the UK to fight alongside Shabaab in Somalia.

(snip)

Shabaab merged with al Qaeda in November 2008 after requesting to join the international terror group in September 2008. Top al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and Abu Yayha al Libi have praised Shabaab in propaganda tapes and encouraged the group to carry out attacks against the Somali government, neighboring countries, and the West. In late 2009, Osama bin Laden appointed Fazul Mohammed to serve as al Qaeda's operations chief in East Africa; the announcement was made at a ceremony in Mogadishu that was attended by Ahmad Godane Zubayr, Shabaab's spiritual leader.

See video at link.

Long War Journal

The government blamed al Qaeda in Iraq for violence in Baghdad, saying the terror group is stepping up its attacks now to exploit political instability. More than two months after the March 7 elections, it is not clear who will control the next Iraqi government, and the U.S. is planning to pull out half of its 92,000 troops over the next four months.

(snip)

"Al Qaeda is trying to ... use some gaps created by some political problems," the Iraqi security spokesman told Arabiya TV. "There are well-known agendas for the terrorist groups operating in Iraq. Some of these groups are supported regionally and internationally with the aim of influencing the political and democratic process inside Iraq."

........Violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007. But the political vacuum in the wake of the inconclusive election has raised the risk that sectarian violence will pick up again.

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, a secular group heavily backed by the Sunni Arab minority, edged out Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's religious Shiite bloc by two seats in the parliamentary election but neither won an outright majority, forcing them to seek partners to form a ruling coalition.

(snip)

The attacks also come at a precarious time as Iraq awaits a new government to be formed more than two months after landmark parliamentary elections and worries that insurgents will try to exploit the ongoing political uncertainty to stoke new violence.

The election results have yet to be certified by the country's highest court - which must happen before any new government can be formed - and a recount demanded by al-Maliki in Baghdad is ongoing.

If the results are overturned or Allawi is not perceived as the winner deserving a legitimate shot at forming a government, that could in turn outrage the Sunnis who supported him. Sunni anger at Shiite domination of successive governments was a key reason behind the insurgency.

SOURCE