Terrorist groups have always relied on the proliferation of their beliefs to shape public perception and recruit new members. Beginning in the 1990s the Internet allowed for these groups to spread their messages to new audiences. In recent years, these messages have been conveyed through magazines, videos and other online postings. Al Qaeda and its component organizations are no exception amongst terrorist groups in using the Internet to spread their messages, and March witnessed the release of several notable publications from these organizations.
On March 14, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released the twelfth issue of its infamous, online English-language magazine Inspire after a relatively lengthy hiatus between publications (the last edition was published in May 2013). (Read more on the WaterISAC Portal.) An important section of Inspire is “Open Source Jihad,” in which authors seek to motivate and educate lone wolf jihadists who do not have the ability to receive more formal training. This edition features instructions for a car bomb designed to be “very effective” in killing individuals.
The magazine puts New York City and Washington, D.C. at the top of its target list, which also includes Chicago, Los Angeles and locations in England and France. High-profile terrorists have admitted to using the methods described in Inspire to plan and conduct attacks, including Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
AQAP also produces English-language videos, and in March it released the first part of a video series titled "Journey of Jihad" about the life of Sa'id al Shihri, the former AQAP deputy who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in July 2013. The first installment outlines al Shihri’s transformation from a guard of the Saudi King to an AQAP commander in Yemen in 2008. Al Shihri reportedly served as a recruiter and a coordinator between AQAP’s bases in Yemen. According to the current AQAP military commander, al Shihri championed the idea that “the real enemy is America who has corrupted people and lands," as noted in a recent article in The Long War Journal.
As-Sahab, the media production entity within al Qaeda, distributed a video on March 9 announcing the upcoming release of an online English-language magazine to be called Resurgence. When released, the new magazine would be the first English-language magazine ever produced by as-Sahab and marks a significant return by the group to English-language messaging. As-Sahab has historically released English-language videos, creating the first of such materials as far back as 2001. The content and tone of the new videos will likely be along the lines of Inspire magazine with a focus on motivating aspiring jihadis in the West to conduct attacks on their own countries.