This issue of Terrorism Focus will conclude the look at the terrorist training lessons of Shamil al-Baghdadi, posted on a pro-al-Qaeda website (ek-ls.org, March 22). Episodes five and six of the training discuss the perpetration of “quality terror attacks”—high-impact, high-risk operations that include tourist abductions,... MORE

IRAQI AL-QAEDA TRAINER IN WAZIRISTAN RELEASES VIDEO An important but elusive al-Qaeda operative based in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region has released a videotape calling for jihad against the United States and its allies until final victory (The News [Islamabad], April 9). The veteran Iraqi jihadi,... MORE

The last issue of Terrorism Focus discussed the first two of six terrorist training lessons posted on a pro-al-Qaeda jihadi forum (Terrorism Focus, April 1). These lessons, dealing with the creation of a terrorist cell, also briefly touched on the subject of assassination techniques. This... MORE

GERMAN FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN WARNED OF ATTACKS BY GERMAN ISLAMISTS Germany’s Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) announced on April 3 that “potentially threatened institutions in Afghanistan,” including bases of the German Bundeswehr, had been warned of possible terrorist attacks from two German citizens (DDP,... MORE

Jihadis continue to pursue terror training and knowledge exchange with fellow jihadis through Internet forums. Often, the jihadi forum participants post short, though significant, details pertinent to terror conduct drawn from real life experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, a forum participant posted six training... MORE

TURKISH MILITARY USES ISRAELI UAV IN PINPOINT STRIKE ON PKK In a striking display of the usefulness of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in counter-insurgent warfare, Turkey’s military followed up the discovery of a group of PKK guerrillas in the southeastern province of Sirnak with a... MORE

On March 10, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) issued a statement to jihadi forums claiming the abduction of two Austrian tourists on Tunisian soil (al-Jazeera, March 10). Though it is uncertain whether the two were actually still in Tunisia at the time of their... MORE

The latest insurgency technique of using silenced handguns to kill U.S. and government forces in Iraq is discussed in two different jihadi internet forums (hanein.info, March 18; ek-ls.org, March 17). Over five days, Islamist forum participants discussed the use of silenced weapons in killing Iraqi... MORE

FATWA IN TRIBAL PAKISTAN DECLARES TALIBAN “OUT OF ISLAM” A new fatwa (religious ruling) issued in the Pashtun Darra Adam Khel region of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province declares the Taliban to be “out of Islam” as a result of their violence, failure to follow Islamic... MORE

The man most responsible for the growing strength of al-Qaeda in Yemen is a 32-year-old former secretary of Osama bin Laden named Nasir al-Wahayshi. He took over the leadership of the group when it had all but been eliminated, and has slowly, over the past... MORE