IMU frees Top-Terrorist Adnan Rasheed

by Florian Flade

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On April 14 2012 a group of about 150 Islamists fighters attacked the Bannu prison in the Southern District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In total 384 prisoners were able to escape during this operation. One of them is Adnan Rasheed. The high-profile terrorist was imprisoned for eight years because of his involvement in an assassination attempt targeting former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Rasheed was a former member (joined in 1997 as a junior technician) of Pakistan´s Air Force and had joined Islamist militancy while still serving in the military. In December 2003 several terrorists including Adnan Rasheed planted explosive devices under a bridge Musharraf´s convoy was passing regularly. The plot was foiled. Rasheed was arrested in Balochistan Province for his involvement in the terror plot.

After eight years in prison Adnan Rasheed is now a free man roaming the tribal region of Waziristan. Fighters of the Tehrik e-Taliban (TTP) and the “Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan” (IMU) attacked the Bannu prison in a suprise assault operation and freed him. Eight months prior to the raid Adnan Rasheed had been moved from Kohat to Bannu.

A new German-language propaganda video released by the IMU´s media wing “Jundullah Studio” lengthly features Adnan Rasheed speaking in English about his time in prison and the night he was freed by fellow Jihadists.

“I saw my release in a dream about 20 days ago before the operation”, Rasheed says in the video, “I saw in the dream that some Uzbek mujaheddin will come and will take me out of the prison.”

The terrorist also says: “My only sin was nothing but Jihad. Jihad against the Murtadin regime of Pakistan.”

When Rasheed escaped Bannu prison Pakistan´s Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik suspected the attackers had inside knowledge of the prison. He said it was likely the whole operation was conducted with the aim of freeing Adnan Rasheed.

“We will find out about who had kept Adnan Rashid in Bannu jail”, Malik said.

According to the German IMU member Yassin Chouka aka “Abu Ibrahim al-Almani” the imprisoned top-terrorist Rasheed had sent a letter to the mujahidin in which he wrote about his situation and the Jihad in Pakistan.

 

Die Psyche des Mohamed Merah

von Florian Flade

Ein psychiatrisches Gutachten aus dem Jahr 2009 gibt Einblicke in die Gedankenwelt und den Werdegang von Mohamed Merah, dem Todesschützen von Toulouse.

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Iran Denies Presence Of High-Level Al-Qaida Facilitator

by Florian Flade

Izzaddin Abdel Aziz Khalil from the Syrian town of Al-Qamishli is now international terrorist celebrity. The 29 year-old Syrian has been added to the U.S. Most Wanted List of terrorists. A $ 10 Million reward is offered for information leading to his killing or arrest.

Khalil who is known as “Yassin al-Suri” is labeled as a senior Al-Qaida facilitator based in Iran. According to U.S. authorities Al-Suri is moving terrorist recruits across the Middle East into Iran and then to Pakistan and Afghanistan. His activities are known to Iranian authorities, the U.S. claims.

“Iranian authorities maintain a relationship with al-Suri and have permitted him to operate within Iran´s borders since 2005″ – the U.S. Ministry of Justice states – “Al-Suri funnels significant funds via Iran for onward passage to al-Qaida´s leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq”.

Yassin al-Suri was also responsible for arranging a deal with Iran´s regime for the release of imprisones Al-Qaida members (among them Egyptian Saif al-Adel and Kuwaiti Sulaiman Abu Ghaith) from Iranian prisons. Allegedly Iranian officials handed the prisoners to Al-Suri who then facilitated their travel to Pakistan.

Meanwhile Iran has denied having any affiliation with the Al-Qaida opertive Yassin al-Suri. “These amateurish scenarios by the U.S. government on the presence of an Al-Qaida member in Iran are totally baseless”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.