Highlights  

• The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan calls on members of the army, police, militias and all other players representing the Afghan regime, to abandon their duties so as not to be a target for the Taliban in the framework of its battle against ‘the American occupier and its foreign allies’.

• The leader of Al-Qaeda, Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri, harshly criticizes the US decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. According to him, many Muslim countries have chosen to sell out Palestine, cooperate with Israel and make Jerusalem the capital of Israel. In light of this, he calls on Muslims to engage in a conscious campaign to ascribe Jerusalem to the Muslim Nation, and to act for its liberation through dawah and jihad. In addition, he threatens that jihad fighters will continue the struggle against the US until its armies are banished from Muslim lands and the land of Palestine is returned to the Muslims.

• Sheikh Hussam ‘Abd al-Rauf, the head Al-Qaeda’s media department, mocks the militant policy against jihad fighters in various arenas of jihad by the US administration under Donald Trump’s presidency. According to him, US efforts to win the battle are destined to fail, the economic strength of the United States has eroded, and its status as a world power has been greatly weakened by the prolonged battle against the mujahideen. He also denounces Muslim regimes, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, for cooperating with the US in the war on terror. Al-Rauf also accuses the US of committing war crimes in Yemen. Alongside this criticism, al-Rauf praises the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for its steadfastness in the face of the US war machine and its allies, and for its success in capturing 80% of Afghanistan’s territory. According to him, the Emirate intends to capture the remaining Afghan territory when circumstances in the international and regional arenas will allow it. Al-Rauf threatened that if Trump seeks to realize his intention and send US military reinforcements to Afghanistan, he will fail as did his predecessor, Barack Obama. He emphasizes that, for over a decade, the US and its allies have been waging a war in Afghanistan, when in practice it has only suffered loss of life and property.

• Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) threatens to attack Western companies, especially French companies, operating in North African countries, such as Mauritania, Libya and in the countries of the Sahel region, claiming that they are looting the natural resources of Muslim lands. According to the organization, the local regimes are accomplices to these crimes because of their cooperation with the West on this and other issues.

• The Uqba ibn Nafi Battalion, which is affiliated with AQIM, calls on Tunisian residents to boycott local elections due to the rampant corruption among those in power, the lack of change in the economic, social and political situation in the country due to the control of the country by France, the United States, the UAE and other countries, with the help of local politicians. Therefore, the solution lies in the destruction of the entire system of government and its re-establishment through the use of jihad.

• Sheikh Abu ‘Ubayda Ahmad ‘Umar, the leader of Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, praises the actions of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters and calls on them to intensify their attacks against enemies through guerilla warfare, characterized by assassinations, car bombings, ambushes, landmines and more. In addition, he appeals to tribes in Yemen to help jihad fighters in the Arabian Peninsula in the battle against the enemies of Islam.

In another speech in honor of the month of Ramadan, he praised members of his organization for their achievements on the battlefield against the enemy. In addition, Abu ‘Ubayda accuses the Somali government of aiding Kenyan and Ethiopian forces in order to strengthen their hold in Somalia, and he accuses the United Emirates and Turkey of blatant interference in Somalia’s internal affairs. In light of this, he calls on the Somali nation to pay attention to this worrying trend and to put their trust in the jihad fighters who are working to thwart these and other schemes. 

• AQAP accuses the Saudi Kingdom and the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia of distorting the principles of Islam and severely violating shari’a. According to him, they are responsible for instilling a hedonistic culture of leisure into the Arabian Peninsula, such as the introduction of movie theaters, and take part in poisoning the minds of young Muslims. According to the organization, Muslim clerics must stand guard and protect Muslim minds from foreign influences.

The General Manager of the Shura Council of the Mujahideen in Derna announces its dismantling and the creation of a new entity called the Derna Protection Force.

 

 

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This article is part of the RED-Alert project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation Programme under grant agreement No 740688.

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