Periodical Review: Summary from the Jihadi Forums – The Second Half of July 2013
This report summarizes notable events discussed on jihadist Web forums during the second half of July 2013. Following are the main points covered in this report:
• Sheikh Ayman Al-Zawahiri calls to the Muslims to show initiative and act against the US anti-Muslim policy, manifested – according to him – in the mass killing of Muslims. In his view, one should also strive to liberate Palestine from the Jews so that it can be included in the Islamic caliphate that is to be established in the region.
• Sheikh Ibrahim Rubaish, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s Mufti, gives an official declaration on the death of Sheikh Al-Shari and eulogizes him. Al-Shari served as the deputy leader in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and was killed by an American drone, apparently at the beginning of the year.
• The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the break-in into 2 large prisons near Baghdad – the Abu Gharib Prison and the Al-Taji Prison – on July 21st 2013. This break-in resulted in the release of several hundred prisoners, most of them Al-Qaeda members.