Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1-Syria- Nusra-Front-14

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Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1-Syria- Nusra-Front-14

"The operations (in Syria) have been successful so far and God willing, they will continue and other successes will also follow," Salami told FNA on Wednesday. "The main goal is setting the Syrian nation free from the hands of the terrorists and this will continue in any form until attainment of proper results," Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami.

We will finish the war in Syria. We insist on defeating the terrorists and gaining victory against the Takfiri plots in Syria in a move to support Lebanon; because if Syria turns into a center or passage for the ISIL and other terrorist groups, they will not show mercy to Lebanon either," Qawooq was quoted

A top Saudi commander of the Al-Nusra Front - Al-Qaeda's official branch in Syria - urged all militant groups across Syria to leave their positions for Aleppo, warning that the strategic territory near the border with Turkey will soon be completely lost if thousands of fresh forces do not join them in coming days.

On November 11, Ukrainian border guards reported they had detained a Russian citizen suspected of belonging to Islamic State in Kiev’s Borispol International Airport. The man on the international wanted list landed in Kiev on a flight from Istanbul. He was handed over to police and the arrest was reported to Ukraine’s Interpol office. One of the leaders of the international terrorist organization, the Al-Nusra Front, on an international wanted list, has been detained in Kiev, says the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). The Al-Nusra Front, also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, is the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda. The Sunni Islamic jihadist group is fighting against Syrian government troops alongside Islamic State. Their declared aim is to establish a caliphate in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

Inside the Battle: Al Nusra-Al Qaeda in Syrihttps://news.vice.com/video/inside-the-battle-al-nusra-al-qaeda-in-syria

November 12, 2015 | 12:02 am VICE News filmmaker Medyan Dairieh gains exclusive access to the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, al Nusra, a jihadist group fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the Islamic State (IS). Spending more than a month with al Nusra and exploring their expanding territory, Dairieh meets the highest-ranking members of the organization, who reveal their identity on screen for the first time and discuss their military doctrine. Al Nusra, which swore allegiance to al Qaeda two years ago and is now emerging as a powerful force to rival IS in Syria, has seized several strategic towns in the northwestern province of Idlib. While it supplies water, electricity, and food to the local population, a school run by al Nusra is also grooming young boys to become the next generation of al Qaeda and preparing them for jihad. VICE News also secures exclusive access to the front lines of the battle for Abu al-Duhur airport in Idlib, a major airbase held by Assad's forces, besieged by al Nusra for two years. Aided by dust storms during the attack, the airport was the last remaining government stronghold in the region. Dozens of government soldiers were subsequently executed, according to the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.Watch "The Islamic State (Full Length)"Read "Al Nusra Unmasked: A Top Commander Speaks Exclusively to VICE News"

The al-Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, has broken from the Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) coalition controlling parts of northern Syria, rebel sources

1The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. –Winston Churchill

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claimed on Thursday. An audio recording released by a senior commander in Ahrar al-Sham - another member of the Jaish al-Fatah coalition - said that al-Nusra, known in Arabic as Jabhat al-Nusra, had suspended their membership of the coalition, following a similar move by another al-Qaeda-inspired group, Jund al-Aqsa, which left last week. Abu Hazifa Ahrar, a spokesperson for Ahrar al-Sham, quoted leader Abu Hamza al-Hamawi as saying: "The extremists from al-Nusra Front have decided to suspend their work with Jaish al-Fatah in an act of solidarity with Jund al-Aqsa's decision to leave." Hamawi also reportedly stressed that Ahrar al-Sham would nevertheless pledge to continue fighting as part of Jaish al-Fatah particularly in a battle for Hama province to the south. "They are determined to enter the battle, even if they are the only ones remaining in Jaish al-Fatah." "Working together is better than working alone, and Jaish al-Fatah is the best example of that," he added. Nov 12, TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army and Hezbollah resistance movement forces made huge advances in the Southwestern countryside of Aleppo, and prevailed over Al-Hadher region as the al-Nusra Front's stronghold. Al-Hadher was al-Nusra's main stronghold in Aleppo and its collapse can leave a domino effect on other Southwestern parts of the Northern province in Syria and lead to expelling the terrorists from them. A number of terrorists deployed in the city have been witnessed as withdrawing towards al-Ais town in the Western parts of al-Hadhar city. The Syrian army and Hezbollah forces captured al-Ais heights yesterday.

If a chemical attack against children isn't a "red line", then what is? That was the international community giving Bashar al-Assad a license to kill. They basically said - you can kill more, and you can even bring in other armies to kill people if you are short of weapons and soldiers. The entire world is watching Syrian children and women being killed by barrel bombs and air strikes, and yet nobody is taking any action to stop this massacre. The only way I find to stay positive is by carrying on. After losing loved ones, houses, jobs, savings … people have no choice but to go on. - One resident, Osama Nasser.

Nov 11, A lot of the time people tend to say that there are less radical among the radicals in that they are less bloody and bloodthirsty. ISIS has a liking for a grand display of violence, beheadings and such. I think that Al-Nusra is a bit different in that radicals stay radicals - the ideology that they are basing their ideology upon is violence… based on hatred and ignorance. I think we need to be very careful as to who we call ‘moderates,’ because then we are basically allowing ourselves to think that radicalism can be somehow justified or tolerated, and that is not the case; it should never be the case. The only way forward would be exactly what Moscow has been doing and Iran calling for – which is the annihilation of the ideology itself, and of course targeting the military ability on the ground. There could be no negotiation, or try to open up negotiations, with such people, because their intent is just to invade and continue their violence, and this is what they have been doing. Whenever the US or Western allies have allowed them some space within which they could move they have carried such attacks and… systematically targeted civilians. We can’t allow them. We have to suffocate these people. And that means cutting their phones, cutting off their military aid, and of course trying to target the ideology. I don’t think that we could think in terms of trying to contain this – this is not containable now, we need to really attack it. I think that Russia understand this and so far





has been doing a great job, which is why they are retaliating right now – because they are feeling a danger. - Catherine Shakdam, from the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies in London.

Nov 11, 2015 Commander: IRGC Advisors Stay in Syria until Final VictoryTEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution

Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami underlined the IRGC's firm decision to keep its military advisors in Syria until gaining final victory against the terrorist groups and liberate all Syrian territories."The operations (in Syria) have been successful so far and God willing, they will continue and other successes will also follow," Salami told FNA on Wednesday. "The main goal is setting the Syrian nation free from the hands of the terrorists and this will continue in any form until attainment of proper results," he added.Salami also underscored that the IRGC has not changed the method of its presence in Syria which has earlier been described as an advisory role. Iran and Hezbollah have been helping the Syrian army and popular forces in retaking control over the country's towns back from the terrorists. The Iranian officials have always emphasized that it has not deployed forces in Syria and its presence in the friendly Arab country is limited to a counseling role. But Hezbollah resistance force sent its fighters to Northern Syria to help the country's army and popular forces take back the strategic province of Aleppo from the terrorist groups, including the al-Nusra Front and ISIL. In a surge of power, the pro-government troops that are backed by the Syrian and Russian air forces have earned an increasing number of battlefields across the province in the last 6 weeks.In relevant remarks on Sunday, Head of Hezbollah Executive Committee Sheikh Nabil Qawooq underlined that the resistance group would continue standing against the terrorist groups in Syria to prevent their spread to Lebanon, reiterating that Hezbollah would keep its fighters in the neighboring Muslim nation until final defeat of all terrorist groups. "We will finish the war in Syria. We insist on defeating the terrorists and gaining victory against the Takfiri plots in Syria in a move to support Lebanon; because if Syria turns into a center or passage for the ISIL and other terrorist groups, they will not show mercy to Lebanon either," Qawooq was quoted as saying by al-Manar news channel. He stressed that Hezbollah would defeat the terrorist groups in Syria the same way that it gained victory in the 33-day war against the Israeli regime that was armed to the teeth. Qawooq also blasted Saudi Arabia for supporting the terrorist groups in the region, and blamed the country for prolonging the wars in Syria and Yemen.

TEHRAN (FNA 11 Nov)- A top Saudi commander of the Al-Nusra Front - Al-Qaeda's official branch in Syria - urged all militant groups across Syria to leave their positions for Aleppo, warning that the strategic territory near the border with Turkey will soon be completely lost if thousands of fresh forces do not join them in coming days.Abdullah al-Muhsini, the al-Nusra's senior commander, wrote on his social network pages that in case all militant groups do not join their comrades in Aleppo, the entire province





"which is of vitally strategic value will soon be lost" to the Syrian army. The Saudi Sheikh who is also a religious leader voiced deep concern over militants' status quo in Aleppo, saying that the Syrian army and its allies have increased the momentum of their advances in the last few days. He specially demanded militants in neighboring Hama province to "show care for common, instead of personal and individual, interests" and rush to the al-Nusra and ISIL's aid "before the Syrian army conquers the strategic al-Aeis heights", warning that the government troops will prevail over all militants' positions in Northern Syria soon if their all-out advances in Aleppo are not brought to a halt.Sheikh Abdullah al-Muhsini stands at the highest ranks of the al-Nusra Front command. When the group leader, Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, moved to the countryside of Hama where Joulani spoke to nearly 1,500 fighters before they headed to battle in Mhardeh, several years ago, the general military commander of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abou Hammam as-Suri, and Sheikh Abdullah al-Muhsini were also present during the gathering, to boost the fighters' morale. Al-Nusra militants said Hama is of strategic importance to the terrorist group as it connects the countryside of Hama to the countryside of Idlib, which al-Nusra desired to make its new stronghold after it lost the Eastern parts of Syria. Ever since the al-Nusra attack to take the Hama-Idlib road, Abdullah al-Muhsini was stationed there due to its importance. But now the terrorist commander has rushed to Aleppo and demanded all terrorists across Syria, specially those in Hama to give up their positions, given the strategic value of Aleppo. Al-Muhsini was a clergy and a Mosque Imam in Saudi Arabia before joining the war of militancy in Syria and soon climbed up the chain of command in the al-Nusra Front terrorist group that is supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.He also led the terrorists in the wars in Idlib and was in charge of the siege laid on the two Shiite-populated towns of Kafria and Fuaa that have been encircled by the terrorists for the last several months. The Syrian army has made huge gains in Aleppo in the last 6 weeks, specially in the last several days. On Tuesday evening, the Syrian army, popular and Hezbollah forces, backed by the Syrian and Russian air forces lifted the 2.5-year-long siege of Kuweires military airbase after killing hundreds of ISIL terrorists. Only in the last three days, the Syrian army has captured over a dozen villages and towns in Aleppo. The Syrian Army on Tuesday started raiding al-Nusra Front's concentration centers in several districts and neighborhoods across the Northern city, and made the terrorists retreat from their positions in multiple fronts.The neighborhoods of al-Shaar, al-Sheikh Saeed, al-Jaberiyeh, al-Sukari, al-Ashrafiyeh, al-Khaldiyeh and al-Ansari witnessed massive offensives of the Syrian army against the Nusra militant group, which left scores of the terrorists dead and wounded. The Syrian army and Hezbollah forces won back full control over Maryudah in South of Aleppo countryside also on Tuesday. The Syrian army alongside Hezbollah fighters also stormed the militants' defense line and recaptured full control over Makhala village in the Southern countryside of Aleppo also yesterday.The Syrian army troops and Hezbollah launched a joint operation to tighten the noose around the militant groups in the Southern part of Aleppo city, which ended in the recapture of Makhala village after fierce clashes with the terrorists.On Monday, the Syrian Army alongside Hezbollah fighters conducted mop-up operations against the militants in two main neighborhoods of Aleppo city, and killed scores of them. The army destroyed terrorists’ positions in Khalidiya and Bani Zeid neighborhoods in Northeastern part of Aleppo. A large group of terrorists were killed and injured during the operations. Militants' weapons and ammo were also destroyed. Also on Monday, the Syrian Armed Forces alongside popular fighters stormed the positions of Takfiri terrorists and pinned them down in various districts of the Southern part of Aleppo city. Pro-





government forces engaged in heavy clashes with the militant groups in al-Sheikh Saeed, al-Sukari, al-Ansari and al-Sakhour districts, and killed or wounded scores of them. The Syrian army's intensified operations in the Southern part of Aleppo blocked the exit path of the terrorists, making their retreat impossible. Sheikh Muhsini has reportedly been stuck in the same region along with hundreds of other terrorists.

LWJ 12 Nov. The Syrian Army and allied forces have broken the Islamic State’s siege of the Kweiris air base in Aleppo province, according to Bashar al Assad’s regime and independent sources. The “caliphate’s” jihadists held their ground surrounding the air base for nearly two years, cutting off the Assad loyalists who were defending the facility from reinforcements. But in what is likely Assad’s biggest success since Russia intervened in the war, the Islamic State has suffered significant losses in the villages and countryside surrounding the air base.“Units of the army achieved new progress in the war against terrorism in [the] Aleppo eastern countryside reaching Kweiris airport and contacting…the heroic soldiers who have thwarted hundreds of attempts by ISIS [Islamic State] to attack the airport during the latest months,” the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Assad’s propaganda arm, reported. “During the operations carried out to lift the siege on the airport,” SANA’s account continued, “the army killed hundreds of ISIS terrorists and destroyed their dens and cells with all weapons inside.” Assad’s men also claim to have “established control” over “tens of villages and strategic hills in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, the latest of which was the village of Sheikh Ahmad near the airport.” SANA has published pictures from Sheikh Ahmad, saying the village was “recently secured by the Syrian Army.” The fall of Sheikh Ahmad cleared the path for the Syrian military and its paramilitary allies to advance on Kweiris. Russia’s intervention apparently played a key role in the Syrian Army’s ability to loosen the Islamic State’s grip on the area. In late September, Assad’s forces launched a large-scale ground operation intended to retake the turf surrounding the air base. Assad’s military reportedly provided air cover using newly arrived Russian warplanes.Russia conducted its own bombings outside of Kweiris as well. “Syrian troops tried in the past to reach the air base with no luck but Russian airstrikes appear to have helped in forcing [the Islamic State] from the area,” the Associated Press (AP) reported.According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Assad’s soldiers have fought alongside Hezbollah jihadists, Syria’s National Defense Forces (a collection of pro-Assad militias) and “Iranian fighters” as they made their way toward the air base. This combined ground force has also been supported by “airstrikes by the Russian and regime air forces.”At least eight Hezbollah fighters were killed during the push into Kweiris, according to The Daily Star, a publication based in Lebanon.Harakat al Nujaba, an Iranian-backed militant organization that fights in Iraq and Syria, claims to have played a key role in operation. A post on Harakat al Nujaba’s official website says that its fighters helped clear the Islamic State from Sheikh Ahmad and other villages surrounding the air base. Harakat al Nujaba has long maintained a presence in Aleppo, so its role in the most recent battle is not surprising.The Islamic State actually gained ground in Aleppo during the first weeks of Russia’s intervention. The group seized towns and villages from other rebel groups, which were Russia’s primary targets. But while Russia has hit other rebels hard, it has also been targeting the Islamic State throughout the country.As is the case elsewhere in Syria, the war in Aleppo province is a complex, multi-sided affair. In addition to the Islamic State, Sunni jihadist groups such as Al Nusrah Front and





Ahrar al Sham, both of which are opposed to the Islamic State, are heavily involved in the fighting. In fact, Al Nusrah and Ahrar al Sham claim to have captured a small number of villages in the past week. Al Nusrah is al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, while Ahrar al Sham is closely allied with Al Nusrah and has its own al Qaeda links. In early July, the two groups formed the Ansar al Sharia alliance in Aleppo, but the coalition’s current status is not clear. Another coalition based in Aleppo, Fatah Halab, was also formed earlier this year. Fatah Halab was formed by more than two dozen rebel organizations, including Ahrar al Sham, Free Syrian Army brigades, and other Islamist groups. At its founding, the alliance explicitly excluded Al Nusrah. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for The Long War Journal.

Sun Nov 08, 2015 Syria: Al-Nusra Front Recruits 2000 Foreign Militants to Fight Army in Aleppo

TEHRAN (FNA)- Informed military sources disclosed that the terrorist groups, specially the Al-Nusra Front, have recruited hundreds of foreign militants after sustaining major defeats in the battle against the Syrian army and Hezbollah forces in Aleppo province in the last few weeks."The terrorist groups, Al-Nusra Front in particular, are getting ready to confront the army in Aleppo province and they have recruited 2,000 foreign terrorists for the same purpose," an informed military source said on Sunday. The Syrian army and popular forces have inflicted heavy losses on the Al-Nusra Front in their recent military operations. The Syrian army and Hezbollah seized back the three towns of Zarawi, Tal Mamu and Azizieh Samaan from the Takfiri militants in Aleppo province on Sunday. Tens of the terrorists were killed in the joint operation of the Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah forces in Tal Mamu and al-Azizieh this morning.On Sunday, the Syrian Army alongside popular forces advanced in the key battlefield of Air Force Academy (South of Kuweires Airbase) and inflicted heavy death toll on the terrorists. Military sources said that the Air Force Academy and its nearby regions were the scenes of heavy clashes between the Takfiri terrorists and the government forces, which left dozens of the militants dead or wounded.The ISIL military grid also suffered significant damage in this morning battle. On Saturday, the Syrian Army, National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah fighters could eventually earn victory after several days of fierce battle in Sheikh Ahmad East of Aleppo and came still closer to the strategic Kuweires Airbase. The Syrian army troops, the NDF fighters and the Lebanese Hezbollah forces, backed up by the Russian fighter jets, on Saturday tightened noose around the ISIL terrorists near Sheikh Ahmad and its surrounding areas to lift over a two-year-long siege of the strategic Kuweires airbase.The latest reports from the battlefield said that the government forces are very close to seize back full control over Sheikh Ahmad after killing tens of Takfiri terrorists.Also on Saturday, the Syrian Army, popular forces and Hezbollah fighters pushed back the militant groups from Kafr Haddad in Aleppo province and retook full control over the village and its





surroundings. The sources said that the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division, Hezbollah, the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Aleppo city, Kataebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalion) and several Iraqi paramilitaries imposed full control over the important village of Kafr Haddad after a series of intense firefights with the militants of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham, Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki, al-Nusra Front, and Liwaa Suqour al-Sham. With the capture of Kafr Haddad, the Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance are within 25km of the important stronghold of Saraqib in the Idlib province and 30km East of the predominately Shiite towns of Fou'aa and Kafraya.Army sources announced on Friday that the Syrian Army troops, backed up by the Russian airstrikes, have taken control of approximately 250 square kilometers of land in Aleppo."The Syrian army's operation continues in the Southern and Eastern parts of province of Aleppo," Brigadier General Ali Mayhoub said. "In cooperation with civil defense groups we control more than 250 square kilometers, and returned stability to dozens of villages and towns in the region." "The army in collaboration with the civil defense forces managed to open the way to Aleppo…to ensure the safe passage of this important route," Mayhoub added. The general also said that terrorists sustained a large number of casualties and loss of equipment. On Thursday, the Syrian army, backed up by massive air support, continued to tighten noose on the Takfiri militants in Aleppo, inflicting heavy casualties on the terrorists.The army destroyed ISIL positions, weapons and ammunition and vehicles in an area in

the vicinity of the Air Force Academy. The army troops also killed and injured a group of terrorists from the al-Nusra Front and other affiliated groups in the villages of Berneh, Tal Haddiyeh, Doulamah and Khan Touman in the Southwestern countryside of Aleppo. Tens of the militants' machinegun-equipped vehicles were also destroyed. The army, backed up by the Syrian airstrikes, destroyed positions of Takfiri terrorists

in the neighborhoods of al-Rashideen 4, al- Sheikh Khuder, Salah Eddin, al-sheikh Said and Bustan al-Qaser. Meanwhile, the Syrian air raids destroyed terrorists’ positions in al-Ameriyeh village in the Southeastern countryside of Aleppo.

Victory Loves Preparation. Al-Nusra Magazine Aims to ‘Show the World’ That Jihadists ‘Are Largely Misunderstood’ Fighters in Syria allied with al-Qaeda have published their second edition of a glossy English-language magazine with the goal “to show the world that we, the Mujahideen, are largely misunderstood and that we are not whom they are made to think we are.” “One of the greatest things about IS is that before people saw Al-Qaeda and the Mujahideen (in general) as the extremists, and those that abstain from jihad as the normal ‘moderate’ Muslims (following the middle-way),” Hamza continues. “But now the truth has come out – the Mujahideen are in fact upon the correct and ‘moderate’ path, with IS being the extremists.

Nov 12, group of Uzbek citizens arrested in Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, were allegedly planning to go to Syria to join a militant group there, according to the 12news.uz news





site, which has links to the country's National Security Service (SNB).A security source told 12news.uz that the group -- whose numbers were not revealed -- had been attempting to join the Jannat Oshiqlari (Loving Paradise) group in Syria.Recruitment & Propaganda Jannat Oshiqlari is also known as Tawhid wal-Jihod (TWJ), an Uzbek-led group based in Aleppo Province. The group recently pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda. The Uzbek reports of the arrest of individuals seeking to join TWJ suggests that the militant group has upped its recruitment efforts in Uzbekistan.TWJ runs a slick propaganda effort that broadcasts its activities in Syria. The group has two websites, a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel on which it posts professionally made videos. The videos include footage of battles in which TWJ militants are fighting, as well as speeches by the group's leader, Abu Saloh.

Oct 26, Jabhat al-Nusra released the first issue of their periodical, Al-Risalah, back around the Fourth of July. ISIS issued a refutation of the magazine’s claims after that debut. Their new issue, which has the same feel as the Inspire magazine from their al-Qaeda cousins in Yemen, appears determined to reflect a different tone than ISIS — while drawing Western recruits to their side instead of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s forces. The competition between the jihadi groups is reflected on a daily basis by everything from social media rumors to online published testimonials from Westerners who started with one group and defected to the other. Al-Risalah argues that the image of the mujahedin has “been tarnished by the Western media (and sell out scholars), therefore, it is one of our aims to repair the damage done and to set things right.” But “at the same time, we’d like to make it abundantly clear that there will be no compromise. In no way, shape or form are we willing to water down our Islam or become lenient toward our enemies.” “Both the Muslims and the Kuffar [nonbelievers] know that the final victory is with the believers, by the permission of Allah. However, to attain such a victor y over our enemies and to be taken as martyrs on the battlefield, we must prepare ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually. Therefore, let us ponder upon this notion, this eloquent saying – a phrase that’s very concise but holds a great amount of meaning: Victory Loves Preparation.” That’s the title of issue, with an image pointing to a jihadist’s weapons as the “preparation” and his head as the “victory/martyrdom” portion. One page early in the issue shows the Statue of Liberty partially submerged in a stormy sea, and the next set of pages warns “just as the mountains of Afghanistan were your graves, so too will be the mountains of Sham [the Levant].” Q&As with Westerners in the issue include a self-identified Australian going by the name Hamza Australi, who says he’s been a member of al-Qaeda since mid-2001. “I’m currently in Syria as a member of Al-Qaeda Central (AQC), working on their behalf with Jabhat al-Nusra,” he says. “One of the greatest things about IS is that before people saw Al-Qaeda and the Mujahideen (in general) as the extremists, and those that abstain from jihad as the normal ‘moderate’ Muslims (following the middle-way),” Hamza continues. “But now the truth has come out – the Mujahideen are in fact upon the correct and ‘moderate’ path, with IS being the extremists. So I think that IS is a blessing in disguise for the Muslim Ummah.”The al-Qaeda-led training, he said, is focusing on guerrilla tactics with small groups. “I hate to use the word ‘Commandos’…high standard infantry tactics, long range patrols, reconnaissance patrols, ambushing, raids, sabotage, harassment behind enemy lines, reaction to combat, how to fight with the enemy in a guerrilla warfare scenario, targeting convoys,targeting installations behind enemy lines with no support, and so on.” Al-Qaeda, he adds, sees the Muslim community as being “in a very precarious state” and is trying to usher in “a new age of Islamic honor.” For all their talk of trying to paint an image of a





kinder alternative to ISIS, there is a gruesome four-page spread in the issue with a first-person witness account of Nusra’s Sharia court and executions for crimes such as disbelief — though the writer maintains the punishments are “neither soft nor excessive.” “A companion of mine, who was eager to get some reward for having a hand in the execution, approached the head judge and asked him if he would use his handgun to kill the prisoner,” he writes. “The judge gladly accepted this request.” Radical cleric Abu Qatada, who served time in Britain before being deported to his native Jordan, writes in the magazine that Western nations “plot” against jihad “in knowledge that if particular goals are fulfilled and victory is gained for Islam across the globe it will dominate every land, and the state of the Jews will soon after collapse by the Grace of Allah.” Like ISIS has urged followers to come to the Islamic State no matter what their skills, Abu Qatada stresses that “the one who has found difficulty in aiding the front lines should go forth into education and da’wah.” “Likewise, media and general services relative to the public – there are thousands of beneficial occupations in the cause of Allah,” he writes.The magazine highlights a two million Euro reward being offered by Al-Nusra commander Abu Muhammad al-Joulani for the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. A three million Euro reward is offered for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.It compares ISIS to a “gold-plated attraction”: “It looks beautiful from the outside, but on the inside it is nothing.” And the issue promotes al-Qaeda videos from across the “family”: Al-Shabaab material from media wing Al-Kataib, Taliban propaganda, and material from the newest chapter of AQ, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. While ISIS’ magazine, Dabiq, focuses heavily on Quranic verses, Al-Risalah sticks to the al-Qaeda format of including practical advice, from good choices for concealed weapons to step-by-step encryption instruction. It wraps up with a message that a slain Nusra fighter from Australia left for his unborn son: “Martrydom comes through Jihad, and Jihad is the path I wish for you… Never take a believer as an enemy or take a kafir as a friend… Be like a bullet in the Gun of Islam and let the Gun shoot you wherever Islam needs you.”




Documents

Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1-Syria- Nusra-Front-14