Hezbollah on Your iPhone: There’s An App for That

Update: The Almanartv application was removed from Apple’s iTunes over the weekend. However, it is still available for other platforms, such as Android.

In the latest example of terrorist organizations exploiting current technology to spread their violent messages, an application was made available on Wednesday through Apple’s iTunes service providing mobile access to content from Hezbollah’s satellite television station, al-Manar.

Al-Manar's iTunes App

The new free application, advertised on air by al Manar, directs users to various station content, including speeches by Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Al-Manar broadcasts the terrorist group’s messages of hate and violence, disseminates anti-Semitic and anti-American propaganda and glorifies suicide bombings to millions of viewers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Hezbollah is a U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, and al-Manar was included on the State Department’s Terrorism Exclusion List in December 2004.

Al-Manar has a presence on other internet platforms as well, including a Twitter account with over 17,000 followers and 51,000 messages.  Other terrorist organizations use the microblogging service, including Al Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia which formally merged with Al Qaeda earlier this year. There are also numerous terrorist support pages on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Alabama Jihadist Omar Hammami Resurfaces Online

Update: An audio lecture by Hammami posted online on May 25 may provide insights into his apparent rift with Al Shabaab.  In the 45-minute lecture, originally posted online in January but quickly removed, he criticizes jihadist organizations with a local focus, likening them to a “cancerous tumor.” He also calls for all Muslims to unite in a “jihad of the entire Ummah [Muslim nation]” under the banner of restored Caliphate. 

Amid rumors of his death and his own declaration that his “life may be endangered by” the terrorist organization he joined in Somalia, Omar Hammami, an Alabama native who became the public face and voice of Al Shabaab, announced that he is still alive in part 1 of his autobiography.

In the autobiography, disseminated online on May 16, Hammami describes his journey from Alabama to his involvement in the creation of Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda-linked Somali terrorist group.

He calls joining jihad “the dream of any Muslim who has the love of the religion burning in his heart” and maintains that it is “truly an individual obligation upon all of us.” Hammami portrays himself as “a man with no regrets” despite his apparent falling out with Al Shabaab’s leadership.

In describing his role as a terrorist propagandist, Hammami advises that “being casual, when possible, is a better approach when reaching out to those like myself in the West… my peers can smell a poser from a mile away.” He also stresses the importance of media to the jihadist movement. “The war of narratives has become even more important than the war of navies, napalms, and knives.

Hammami also discusses his relationship with Daniel Maldonado, an American currently serving 10 years in prison for receiving militant training in Somalia with him after they traveled together to the Middle East.

Hammami concludes part 1 by urging others to emulate him. “Not that I’m extremely special, but then again I haven’t seen too many middle class ‘white’ guys from Alabama in Jihaad these days. Hopefully others will say to themselves: ‘I can do that too!’”

On May 22, a photo of Hammami posing with a computer displaying the autobiography was released online, ostensibly to confirm that he is indeed still alive and that the autobiography is authentic.

AQAP Releases Advice for Western Recruits

A recently released English-language booklet that both describes life in Yemen as an Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighter and encourages westerners to carry out attacks inside their home countries is the latest in a series of AQAP publications demonstrating its commitment to reaching western audiences with its violent message.

The publication, “Expectations Full,” was purportedly written by Samir Khan, the American terror propagandist who was killed in a September 2011 drone strike in Yemen. The booklet encourages “brothers in the West to wage jihad inside their countries” because the effect is “much greater, it always embarrasses the enemy, and these type [sic] of individual decision-making attacks are nearly impossible for them to contain.”

The phrase “individual decision-making attacks” is an apparent reference to the “Lone Wolf” phenomenon, where individuals self-radicalize, often online, without any face-to-face interactions with established terrorist groups.

Despite advocating for individuals to carry out attacks in the West, the booklet is mostly devoted to giving “fellow Muslims a sense of the live [sic] of a mujahid,” including issues such as cleanliness, living on base, secrecy, injuries, training and family life.

“Now that you know what to expect [abroad],” the booklet concludes, “you can compare that with doing jihad in the west, weigh the pros and cons, and make your decision.”

Over the last several years, English-language terrorist propaganda has given conflicting messages about where it is most preferable to carry out attacks. AQAP’s English-language terrorist magazine, Inspire, believed to be produced by Khan until his death, repeatedly encouraged its readers to carry out attacks wherever they reside. Al Qaeda spokesperson Adam Gadahn similarly encouraged Americans to attack within the U.S. in a June 2011 message. At the same time, Omar Hammami, an American spokesperson for Al Shabaab, has called on his listeners to come “to the lands of jihad as soon as possible.”

Although AQAP claims that Khan is the author of “Expectations Full,” the document itself bears no indications or hallmarks of his writing. In fact, in one of the sections the author discusses living on bases without access to any electronics, which would be ironic for someone who is best known for creating online propaganda. AQAP may be trying to leverage Khan’s reputation as an American who made “it to the front lines of jihad” in an effort to reach out to Western audiences and spread its call to fight, preferably while staying at home.

The release of the publication closely follows the release of two new issues of the terrorist magazine Inspire and a tribute to Osama bin Laden, also in English, earlier this month. The rapid succession of English-language propaganda comes after a lull of several months and is an indication of renewed attempts by AQAP to reach and recruit a Western audience.

Jihadists Solicit Help Online to Craft Their Message

The Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), an umbrella organization that distributes videos, literature and other messages for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, has apparently posted a submission form on Google’s blog service soliciting “participation, comments or suggestions” for its propaganda.

The form includes instructions in both English and Arabic for contacting the group, with reminders not to “mention your real name, address..etc. [sic]” and to include an email address “so we can reply to you.” The page also includes instructions for sending encrypted messages.

GIMF’s call for “participation” not only demonstrates the continuing effort by Jihadist propagandists to exploit mainstream social media platforms to communicate with potential followers (Al Shabaab, for example, started using Twitter in December 2011), but also how Jihadist media entities continue to rely on the skills and efforts of individual followers to help craft their message.

For example, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s English-language magazine Inspire regularly encourages readers to contribute articles, quotes and images. It has also provided contact information for readers “interested in contributing to this magazine with any skills – be it writing, research, editing or advice” and suggested that individuals use the same encryption program referenced by GIMF “in order to avoid detection from the intelligence services [sic].”

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, accused of attempting to detonate a vehicle he believed was laden with explosives at an Oregon Christmas tree lighting ceremony in 2010, is an example of someone who responded to such solicitations. Not only did he allegedly write and send an article to Inspire (which was not published), he also submitted pieces that were published in Jihad Recollections, the self-described “first English Jihad magazine” released by a collaboration of online terrorist sympathizers, including Samir Khan. Khan produced Inspire up until he was killed by a U.S. drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen.

Others have taken it upon themselves to create jihadist propaganda without necessarily utilizing established terrorist media outlets, relying on internet forums and other social media for distribution of their materials. For example, an April 2012 image of the New York skyline with the message “Al Qaeda Coming Soon Again in New York” attracted widespread media attention and prompted enhanced law enforcement vigilance. The image, apparently created by an individual member of a jihadist forum, demonstrated the propaganda value that can be created by individuals using commercially available software.

While these messages may lack the cachet of a “brand name” propaganda distributed by GIMF and similar terrorist media producers, the materials still attract attention, create fear and encourage others to play an active role in the creation of propaganda in support of terror.

Al Shabaab Formally Joins Al Qaeda against “Crusader Zionist Campaign”

Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab, a terrorist group seeking to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, have issued a joint communique announcing the formal merger of their groups.

While Al Shabaab had previously announced its alignment with Al Qaeda in 2010, and its leaders had repeatedly sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, it is the first time Zawahiri has commented on the “joining of the Mujahideen Al Shabaab Movement in Somalia to Al Qaeda in support of the gathering jihad against the Crusader Zionist campaign.”

Al Shabaab’s Kenyan affiliate, the Muslim Youth Center, which has claimed responsibility for several grenade attacks in Kenya, also announced on its blog that it had joined Al Qaeda to form the core of a newly reconstituted Al Qaeda in East Africa.

Approximately 40 Americans have traveled to Somalia to fight with Al Shabaab since 2007, including at least three American suicide bombers. Omar Hammami, an American citizen from Alabama, has become a key online propagandist for the group.

Boko Haram’s Capabilities Pose Threat Outside Nigeria

In the latest demonstration of its evolving capabilities, Boko Haram, a militant group seeking to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for carrying out a suicide car bombing at the Nigerian military headquarters in the north-central city of Kaduna and another bombing at a nearby airbase.

The tactic employed at the military headquarters – a suicide bomber dressed as a member of the military – may demonstrate the continuing influence of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s affiliates in North Africa and Somalia, on the group’s operational capabilities. AQIM and Al Shabaab’s growing ties to Boko Haram also raises the specter that the group may seek to emulate their strategy of undertaking international attacks targeting Western interests.

Although the group has not carried out attacks outside Nigeria, Boka Haram has expressed intent to expand its targets globally, including the United States. Following its August 2011 bombing of a United Nations building in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, multiple Boko Haram leaders cited opposition to Western powers as the driving factor behind the attack. In a March 2010 interview with Western media, a man claiming to be a Boko Haram spokesman identified the U.S. as “the number one target for its oppression and aggression against Muslim nations… and its blind support to Israel.”

The threat posed by Boko Haram has not gone unnoticed. General Carter Ham, commanding officer of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), has indicated that he believes Boko Haram poses a threat to the United States and U.S. interests. In November 2011, Congress held a hearing on the threat posed by the group “to the U.S. Homeland.”  West African nations have also held regional security summits concerning Boko Haram’s ability to act beyond Nigeria’s borders, concentrating on its links to other terrorist organizations.