Latest Briefs
BRIEFS
HACKING MANUAL BY JAILED JIHADI APPEARS ON WEB A document entitled “The Encyclopedia of Hacking the Zionist and Crusader Websites” was released by al-Qaeda affiliated Global Islamic Media Front on January 27. The guide to computer mayhem is allegedly the work of Moroccan-born British jihadi... MORE
Reviving the North Waziristan Peace Accord May Stabilize Tribal Pakistan
A day before Pakistan’s crucial February 18 parliamentary elections, the military government renewed the September 2006 North Waziristan peace accord. The move is widely seen as part of a revived effort to restore peace and order to the region under the aegis of the new... MORE
Islamic State of Iraq Gives Advice on Infiltration Routes into Iraq
In the last issue of Terrorism Focus (February 20), we examined the attempt by Iraq’s Islamist insurgents to recruit trained professionals for jihad in Iraq. In this follow-up, we examine the use of jihadist internet forums to present would-be jihadis with safe routes to infiltrate... MORE
BRIEFS
MAGISTRATE RELEASES AUSTRALIAN JIHADI’S TERRORISM MANUAL A federal judge in the South Australian city of Adelaide has ordered the public release of a handwritten manual of terrorist and guerrilla techniques compiled by convicted terrorist David Hicks. The former Guantanamo Bay inmate served five years without... MORE
Jihad Wants You: al-Qaeda Seeks Skilled Recruits in Iraq
In another example of jihadist media use, internet forum participants posted instructions for Muslims craving a role in the Iraqi insurgency. Iraqi jihadis issued a call for skilled assistance in strengthening their self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) (al-ekhlaas.net, December 11, 2007). In this al-Qaeda-associated... MORE
BRIEFS
KURDISH REBEL LEADER REACHES OUT TO ARABS, THREATENS ISRAEL Last week a London-based Arabic-language internet daily carried an interview with Fehman Hussein, a Syrian Kurd and long-time PKK militant who now leads the Hezen Parastina Gel (People’s Defense Force, or HPG), the armed wing of... MORE
Pakistan’s Taliban Battle Military for Frontier Arms Bazaar and Strategic Tunnel
Darra Adam Khel is a familiar name to all those who have any acquaintance with Pakistan's lawless tribal frontier region of seven tribal districts, or agencies. The town takes its name from the Adam Khel clan of the Pashtun Afridi tribe native to this region.... MORE
Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq Absorbing Fighters from Other Jihadist Groups
Members of Iraq’s Islamist internet forums have been delighted lately to report a possible alliance between al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and the Ansar al-Islam group of Kurdish Sunni insurgents. A forum participant recently posted details of a joint operation by al-Qaeda and Ansar... MORE
Attacks on Oil Industry Are First Priority for al-Qaeda in Yemen
Over the past six months, al-Qaeda in Yemen’s strategy has become increasingly clear. It aims to strike at both Yemen and Western countries— particularly the United States—by attacking them at their most vital and vulnerable points: oil and tourism. For Yemen the danger is clear.... MORE