Tag: AQAP

The CIA says it thwarted a planned attack on a commerical airliner by al Qaeda Arabian Penisula (AQAP) in Yemen. They say it was more sophisticated than the Underwear Bomber's device.

The FBI is conducting tests on the device. It may have been made by AQAP bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri.

The bomb had not been picked up by the would-be suicide bomber who was to do the attack. A target had not even been selected.

The would-be suicide bomber, based in Yemen, had not yet picked a target or bought a plane ticket when the CIA stepped in and seized the bomb, officials said. It's not immediately clear what happened to the alleged bomber.

Did the suicide bomber get cold feet and go to the authorities? CBS reports:

The would-be suicide bomber was told to buy a ticket on the airliner of his choosing and decide the timing of the attack. It's not immediately clear what happened to the would-be bomber, the AP reported.

Al Qaida Arabian Peninsula released a statement today confirming the killing of cleric Anwar al-Awlawi and two others. The media quotes a sentence or two, but you don't get the real flavor unless you read the whole thing. An English translation is here. A snippet:

“The Americans killed the scholar Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaqi and Samir Khan, but they did not prove any crime they committed and they never presented any proof against them from their laws of unjust freedom. So, where is the freedom, justice, human rights and respect of freedoms they boast of? Did America become so suffocated that it contradicted—and everyday it contradicts—these principles it claims it established its country on?”

“America has failed as it has not stuck to its principles, and the Shaykh—who lived his doctrine and died for its cause—won. And like that, everyday America kills humans unjustly and aggressively. Its history is black and long and has no limit, and it lies openly that it protects human rights, justice and freedom.”

[More...]

What a faux headline from the AP, "Diary: Bin Laden eyed new targets, big body count." From the body of the article:

Intelligence officials have not identified any new planned targets or plots in their initial analysis of the 100 or so flash drives and five computers that Navy SEALs hauled away after killing bin Laden.

....Officials have not yet seen any indication that bin Laden had the ability to coordinate timing of attacks across the various al-Qaida affiliates in Pakistan, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq and Somalia.

They can't even conclude AQAP and the other al Qaida groups paid attention to his musings. AQAP is far more relevant and operational than Osama. [More...]

The media should stop paying so much attention to Osama's son Omar (who seems out for money and fame and had little if any connection to his father in the past decade) and more to Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula. Who cares Omar and his mother sue the U.S.?

AQAP leader Nasser al-Wahishi posted a new threat to Americans and Jews today.

"Do not think of the battle superficially... What is coming is greater and worse, and what is awaiting you is more intense and harmful," Wahishi said, according to a SITE translation.

"We promise Allah that we will remain firm in the covenant and that we will continue the march, and that the death of the sheikh will only increase our persistence to fight the Jews and the Americans in order to take revenge."

President Obama's poll bump won't last long if they succeed. Things that will make them even madder: Killing Anwar al-Awlaki (here's their past threat on that) or mistreating Osama's wives. The killing of Osama bin Laden has opened up a whole new can of worms.

AQAP has released the third issue of Inspire Magazine. (Inspire is the "al Qaeda for Dummies" version of their propoganda releases.) You can read it here. (H/T Jihadology and IntelWire.)

In it, they explain how they made the cargo bombs and why. It wasn't to kill people. Their motives are economic. They want to cause a hemorrhage in the airline industry. They knew our predictable response would be to spend billions ramping up ineffective airline security measures. They are laughing at us, and on this point, with good reason. They also promise many more of these operations, by sharing their findings with their followers in other countries, so they can mail packages and get them on civilian planes going to the U.S. [More...]

Via NECF Foundation, here's the English translation of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) ““Statement about the Liquidation Devices Operation””““Statement # 29””, claiming responsibility for the cargo bomb plot and the September 3 plane crash in Dubai (Arabic version here):

““Praise Allah and prayer and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and companions:””

““We in al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula celebrate to the Ummah and give it the pleasant news and the anticipated surprise: Allah has graced us to bring down a jet that belongs to the American Company UPS, and that was on Ramadan 25th, 1431, corresponding with September 3rd, 2010, after taking off from Dubai International Airport.””

[More...]

Who is Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, the Saudi bomb-maker believed to be in Yemen with AQAP the last few years? And why is he a suspect in the cargo escapade?

Remember the story of the young Saudi who joined AQAP, repented and asked for a meeting with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi Deputy Interior Minister who handles the country's counter-terrorism matters? And how in August, 2009,right before Ramadam, a meeting was set up between the Prince and the young Abdullah Hassan Taleh al-Asiri, so that al-Asiri could surrender and enter Saudi Arabia's much acclaimed rehabilitation program. It was expected to be a major media event, and another chance for the Saudis to show off their program.

Al-Asiri was admitted to the palace, underwent a number of checks, and then met with the prince. An ied hidden on his body (believed then to have been hidden in his rectum) exploded, killing Asiri but not harming the Prince. He wasn't close enough. The IED was composed of PETN.

Al-Asiri's older brother is Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri. [More...]

The news is filled with a terror scare today from two packages with explosives headed to synagogues in the U.S from Yemen. President Obama says it sounds like al Qaida Arab Peninsula. (AQAP.) The Guardian reports cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may be behind it.

I'm just getting to the news so I don't have any thoughts on it yet. Here's a thread to discuss it.

CNN reports 1,000 Yemen military and security forces have launched an attack in the Shabwa province of Yemen, believed to be home to al Qaeda members, including Muslim Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, but they say he is not the only target.

Last week, there were other raids. They didn't kill any al Qaeda members, just a 65 year old man and two women. From the Yemen Observer:

Yemeni warplanes launched strikes in the Modia district of Abyan province on Tuesday, targeting locations believed to be home to al-Qaeda commander Abdul Munem al-Fahtani, according to the defense ministry website.

“The raids at Thaooba area, Modia district, killed a 65-year-old man and two women. No al-Qaeda members were killed,” a security official told Yemen Observer on a condition of anonymity.

[More...]

Abu Baseer al-Wahishi, the leader of al Qaida Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a tape today through the group's media arm, al-Malahem, expressing support for cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is in hiding after President Obama placed him on a "capture or kill" list. The U.S. suspects al-Awlaki of providing spiritual guidance to suspected Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, and the Christmas Day airplane bomber, Umar Farouk

He also threatened attacks against the United States if al-Awlaki was harmed. And speaking about Abmudullatab, al-Wahayshi says on the tape:

"That was a failure but tell me, what will success be like...It will inevitably be a disaster for you (Americans), for we are enamored with the attacks of September 11."

The tape was an open letter to the American public. [More...]

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing today on Yemen and Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula. Here is the written testimony of Gregory Johnson (pdf) who also writes the blog Waq al Waq. On pages 17 to 23, he accurately outlines the formation,activities and events related to AQAP this year. He concludes the section with:

[T]he US and Yemen seem more prepared to fight the enemy al-Qaeda was rather than the one that it has become.

It was one year ago today that Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula announced its formation. Today, it released a statement (English translation)congratulating itself on its achievements during the past 12 months, and honoring its members who died during suicide missions. Some snippets: [More...]

Update: The Yemen Observer retracts: it confused Saeed with his brother Yousef, who was captured. But Yousef was killed in October, this makes no sense. Another version of Yousef's death here.

The Yemen Observer reports AQAP deputy leader al Shehri has been captured:

A car carrying members of al-Qaeda was turned over when attempted to bypass a newly established sudden checkpoint by the Yemeni security units today and resulted in the capture of Saeed al-Shehri, the second person in command of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, security source told the Yemen Observer. The car was going in a high speed and was carrying al-Shehri and other al-Qaeda militants and flipped over in the district of Sylan in Shabwah near the borders of Marib province. All the militants were captured.

Saeed al Shehri is the former Guantanamo detainee who went through the Saudi rehabilitation program and emerged as the group's Deputy Leader in the video announcement of AQAP. (Leader #1 is Nasir al-Wuhayshi. More on the top leaders here.))

Is the news report valid? AQAP is now saying Yemen did not kill Qassim al Raymi this week as previously claimed: [More...]

Marc Lynch has a new post at Foreign Policy, Don't Let Captain Underpants Bring Back the GWOT, on the mass over-hysteria about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and his failed bomb plot on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

But is too much to ask that the national discourse over the failed bomber be more mature and analytical than "Captain Underpants vs Professor Poopypants "?

Lynch cites with approval this WAPO op-ed, "Don't Panic, Fear is Al Qaida's Real Goal," which is well-worth a read. He also correctly notes: [More...]

Dan Froomkin weighs in on the faulty claims perpetuated by the media that 1 in 7 released Guantanamo detainees have returned to the battlefield.

Here's the Pentagon's April 7 report entitled "Fact Sheet: Former Guantanamo Detainee Terrorism Trends" (which they uploaded as "return to the fight.") As we've reported before, the report has been debunked and criticized by a study directed by Seton Hall Law Professor Mark Denbeaux.

David Kenner at Foreign Policy presents the top 4 bad guys in AQAP in Yemen with photos: there's the group's leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, former Guantanamo detainee Said al-Shehri (who was released into the Saudi Rehab program but left), Qasim al-Raymi and Hizam Mujali.

Gregory Johnson at Waq al-Waq says:

I think 'Adil al-'Abab, Ibrahim al-Rubaysh and Muhammad al-Rashad are much more important than Anwar al-'Awlaqi and Hizam Mujali. But there is little argument on the top three: Nasir al-Wahayshi, Said Ali al-Shihri and Qasimal-Raymi.

Johnson says al-Raymi is "the single most dangerous individual in the organization." While he was never at Gitmo, his brother is.

I also like this November, 2009 Australian think-tank study on the importance of AQAP's relationship with the tribes in Yemen.[More...]