Jordanian Al-Qaida Fighter Killed in Afghanistan

by Florian Flade

“The hero of Khorasan Zaid Saleh al-Hourani, known to everyone as Abu Musab al-Hourani”, the beginning of a short biography of a Jordanian Jihadist fighter killed in Afghanistan reads. The article about Al-Hourani was posted on Jihadist Internet forums recently and gives a rare insight into the situation of foreign fighters in Afghanistan these days.

“Abu Musab al-Hourani”, a resident of Amman, from a Jericho family, allegedly was a close aid to former Iraqi Al-Qaida leader Abu Musab az-Zarqawi and recruited about 30 other Jordanians to Jihad in Iraq. In Jordan al-Hourani was imprisoned for 5 years because of his terrorist activities.

In 2010 he traveled to Pakistan and joined the mujaheddin in the tribal areas. Pictures released with his biography are showing Abu Musab al-Hourani in the Pakistani tribal agency of Orakzai. “He took part in operations targeting the Pakistani military”, the biography reads. Al-Hourani was wounded during the fighting in Pakistan, both in battle with Pakistani troops (on his leg) and in CIA drone strikes (again his leg) but recovered from the injuries.

After two years as part of the Al-Qaida forces in Pakistan Abu Musab al-Hourani decided to wage Jihad in Afghanistan. In July 2012 he was killed during a US military raid in the province of Ghazni.

Syrian Insurgents Announce “Martyrdom Brigade”

by Florian Flade

The footage seems oddly similar to what was released from Iraq in 2003 soon after the American invasion. Masked gunmen posing with their weapons in front of an Al-Qaida flag. But this is not the scene of a Iraqi Al-Qaida video – it is recent footage coming out of Syria.

A group of the so-called “Free Syrian Army” in the occupied city fo Homs has – according to the new video – formed a martyrdom battalion, a special unit committed to carry out suicide bombings in the country.

One Syrian militant explains that the “Al-Baraa Ibn Malik Martyrdom Brigade” will fight the Assad regime and its military with all needs, especially suicide bombers.

The video emerges just days after U.S. officials claim Al-Qaida does and will play a bigger role in the Syrian insurgency. According to U.S. intelligence officials Al-Qaida militants from Iraq have infiltrated the Syrian resistance and are now fighting against the Syrian regime. Some of the opposition groups are not even aware of the Jihadi militants amongst them, the U.S. intelligence analysts are stating.

Al-Qaida in Iraq (officially “Islamic State of Iraq”) is suspected of being the mastermind of recent suicide bombings inside Syria, the U.S. claims.

Other media reports seem to confirm the U.S. analysis of Al-Qaida infiltrating the Syrian insurgency. Weapons from Iraq are allegedly being sold back to Syria by the Iraqi Jihadi groups. The price of these arms has doubled or even tripled in recent weeks. An AK-47 assault rifle is available for the price of 1400 $-US, before it was as low as 400 to 500 US-$.

Al-Qaida in Iraq Releases “Spring Of Al-Anbar”

by Florian Flade

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U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq used to call the Al-Anbar Province the “Wild West” of the country. A desert region reaching from central Iraq all the way to the Syrian, Jordanian and the Saudi-Arabian border, ruled by local Sunni tribes, huge family clans with ties to the surrounding countries. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 Al-Anbar became a hotspot of the insurgency. Various local groups, armed militias as well as foreign fighters allied to Al-Qaida were present in Al-Anbar, turning the province in one of the most dangerous places for U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies.

A new propaganda video released by “Al-Furqaan”, the media wing of the “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI) (which is de facto Al-Qaida) sets focus on Al-Anbar and the Jihadi activities there. Titled “The Spring of Al-Anbar”, the new video shows Al-Qaida fighters training in the Iraqi desert, carrying out attacks on convoys and barracks U.S. and Iraqi troops and patrolling the streets of the Al-Anbar towns and villages.

Among other militants the video features a high-ranking Al-Qaida commander named “Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani” and two suicide bombers named “Abu Usama al-Ansari” and “Abu Jafar al-Ansari”.

Al-Qaida´s message is clear: the Mujahidin of the organization are still present in the province, still fighting Jihad and still causing harm to coalition forces and the Iraqi troops as well as the Sunni militias who have formed the so-called “Awakening Council” (basically U.S. paid militias to fight Al-Qaida).