Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released a new video today praising the Chattanooga shooter and declaring victory over French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s decision to stop penning Muhammad cartoons.
The nearly 10-minute video from al-Malahem Media Foundation features AQAP official Khalid bin Umar Batarfi directly addressing would-be jihadists and America, stressing “a command from Allah to fight the disbelievers who are transgressing on the sanctity of Muslims.”
“Muslims witness the promise of Allah fulfilled before them under the pressure of jihad, and after the attack of the two warriors among the warriors of Islam against Charlie Hebdo forcing them to halt the distribution of offensive drawings of the prophets,” Baftari said.
“May Allah have mercy among the Kouachi heroes, and may he accept them among the martyrs. By Allah they have revenged our honorable prophet and all the prophets… after the prolonged insults toward our religion and sanctities. Congratulations unto you for this great honor and this great martyrdom.”
The AQAP official states that “the West’s deliberate recurring abuses have exposed their government’s double standards on freedom of expression, their ridiculous motto that does not fool nor trick anyone.”
“America, France and other kuffar [disbeliever] nations are the ones who assist and make legislation to protect those who abuse Islam and the prophets, the same nations which legislate and punish whomever questions the Holocaust… anyone who questions the authenticity of the statistics. It does not matter if the criticism came from a researchers or a historian. These are the same nations led by America implementing laws that will empower them to place the world under watch. In order to identify who is anti-Semitic, which are not bound by their freedom of expression. And as you put limits to freedom of expression and punish whomever goes against them it is upon us to punish whoever trangresses our boundaries and sanctities. If your sayings and actions toward the Muslim ummah have no limits then our actions by the grace of Allah will have the willpower to stop your injustice, transgression and abusiveness,” said Baftari.
“You have indeed seen a portion of our actions. The angry reaction all over the Muslim world prior to the insults toward the religion and our noble prophets is a clear sign and evidence of the spirit and liveliness of the Muslim ummah and its sensitivity toward its sanctities. Indeed by Allah, no Muslim can bear insults toward his religion. He cannot sluggishly sit still and not be ardent.”
He added that “our words cannot give justice to their sacrifice and heroism… the killing of many of those who insult Islam in the Indian subcontinent.”
That’s a reference to the brutal attacks on secular bloggers in Bangladesh by the newest chapter of al-Qaeda. Among those who have been hacked to death was an American citizen, Avijit Roy of Georgia.
“The targeting of an offensive drawings exhibition in Texas, supported and protected by the American government… lone jihad has proven to be and will always prove to be a strategic weapon, successfully hitting and penetrating the enemy’s fort,” Baftari continued. “And the latest operation of Muhammad Abdulazeez, which occurred in the heart of American soil, is clear evidence of that. He penetrated the base killing and injuring American Marines in a blessed jihadi operation… if a Western government was unable to protect its soldiers in its own soil, will it really be able to protect its citizens, who insult Islam and ridicule the prophets?”
“And can America, Britain and France protect their economic interests? No! By Allah they cannot and are not capable of doing so. The global intelligence community has admitted failing to stop the expanding jihad uprising and not being able to stop the rage of Muslims in the West. And as long as the western governments and on top of them America insult and desecrate our religion and continued support for the Jewish nation which occupies Palestine and as long as they aid the apostate rulers in the Islamic world we will never stop targeting them and threatening their security. It is not justice for Muslims to live in every kind of horror and fear… while the West enjoys security.”
The AQAP official vowed “blood for blood and fear with fear: We either share security or share fear and terror. And we did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.”
He urged mujahedeen in “every corner of the world” to target America, “for indeed it is the head of kuffar and the caretaker of all corruption.”
“Direct your spears toward them. When the head collapses, the body collapses. Continue with your path, and do not halt your jihad until America tastes what the Islamic ummah has tasted,” he said, cautioning jihadis to “not to be preoccupied by internal enemies keeping you away from focusing on the main enemy.”
“Set your goals with precision and focus your strikes on the enemy’s joints,” he said, adding that jihadis can get “practical and efficient guidance” from AQAP’s Inspire magazine, which the Boston bombers used to construct their pressure-cooker bombs. “Resort to secrecy in order to accomplish your needs.”
“Finally, we say to the people in the West and to their governments, you will never enjoy safety until Muslims enjoy it in their religion, sanctities and their selves — in all places. And to Charlie Hebdo: If you return, we shall return.”
The video comes just a few days after AQAP bomb maker Ibrahim Al-Asiri wrote an article distributed online, urging attacks on America.
“We incite you to attack America in hearts of its land and outside. America doesn’t carry many cards as it [has played] most of them, and only has a few options left,” al-Asiri said. “With Allah’s grace, by fighting America, we have grown stronger, contrary to what some believe.. Even if America has killed some of us, our group has been growing stronger day after day, by Allah’s grace.”
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