The latest edition of Inspire magazine published by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) outlines the jihad-inspired group’s plan to “bleed the enemy to death”.
The print edition, distributed in Yemen and elsewhere, this month is geared towards Muslims who cannot read Arabic but want to play a role in armed struggle against Islam’s perceived enemies.
Some jihadist groups have dismissed it, while terrorism monitors believe that its contents are aimed at growing anti-government sentiment in English-speaking lands.
Its witty online edition has mostly raised suspicion of its authenticity. It has promised — but did not publish — an article entitled “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom” penned by “the AQ Chef”. It would also have published an article by Osama bin Laden, entitled “The Way to Save the Earth”.
The web publication encourages interaction with readers. It states that it is “to be a platform to present the important issues facing the ummah (Islamic nation) today to the wide and dispersed English-speaking Muslim readership”.
The print edition has gained attention for its article on AQAP’s self-confessed involvement in the October 29 bomb mission. Inspire refers to that incident as ‘Operation Hemorrhage’ and it quotes a source claiming that the plot cost $4 200.
It offered descriptions from AQAP on how the bombs were constructed and disguised. Photographs of printer cartridge bombs are also published in the magazine.
“Two Nokia mobile phones $150 each, two HP printers $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4 200. That is all what Operation Hemorrhage cost us,” reports the magazine.
“In terms of time, it took us three months to plan and execute the operation from beginning to end — On the other hand this supposedly ‘foiled plot’, as some of our enemies would like to call, will without a doubt cost America and other Western countries billions of dollars in new security measures. That is what we call leverage.”
The attempted attacks on October 29 failed when Saudi Arabian intelligence exposed the plan that entailed sending packages via couriers, United Parcel Service and FedEx, to Chicago in the US.
Inspire also attacks the presidents of Yemen and the US.
“What can President Ali Abdullah Saleh do about his failed state? Yeah, keep scratching your head,” reads a caption accompanying a photo of Yemen’s president.
Its message to US President Barrack Obama reads: “We would like to say to Obama: ‘We have struck against your aircrafts twice within one year and we will continue directing our blows towards your interests and the interests of your allies'”.
AQAP is stationed predominantly in Yemen’s remote rural areas and was linked to the failed October 29 parcel bomb plot headed for Chicago, United States. Its mouthpiece Inspire is an English-language print magazine, which is also published on the Internet.
The magazine’s owners said that the title refers to a verse in the Qur’an which includes the words, “inspire the believers to fight”.
The publication was launched in July and its three editions this year have been met with caution and skepticism.