A Study of "Martyrs in a Time of Alienation"
Part V
In January 2008, Al-Fajr Media Center, an al-Qaida affiliated media group, released an extensive issue in its series, "Biographies of the Martyrs in the Land of Khorasan." The book -- in the summary translation used here -- consists of 120 brief biographies of men who died in the insurgency against Coalition forces and regional governments. The following is a brief analysis (in green) of the book's content based on a summary translation available through WNC (Dialog), see the "Introduction" post for record information.
Part I included the first four of the 120 names and pseudonyms. The remaining posts will explore the list of names and pseudonyms continues. This is Part V.
Abu−Umamah al−Masri: His name is Awf Bin−Muhammad Bin−Abd−al−Rahman from Egypt. He went to Afghanistan to fight with Afghan mujahidin in their war against the Soviets. Awf Bin−Abd−al−Rahman joined jihad in Tajikistan after the break out of civil war in Afghanistan and was appointed a teacher in the Islamic institute where he taught the locals about Islam. He went back to Pakistan after the failure of the jihadist project in Tajikistan and then back to Afghanistan where he joined Bin Ladin in Kandahar. He left Afghanistan after the US invasion and returned to join mujahidin in Jalalabad region where he died in a battle with the US forces.
The first of two Egyptians profiled in this post, Abu-Ummah’s bio highlights the role of dawah, or sometimes translated as preaching or training, in the ongoing development of communities sympathetic to the radical cause. It also shows, once again, the porous character of the region’s borders, and to a lesser extent the feeling of identity tied to Islam, not a nation-state.
Abu−Ayman al−Masri: His name is Mamduh Bin−Muhammad al−Sayyid from Egypt. He was a member of Egyptian Jihad Group who traveled to Afghanistan to receive military training and later become a trainer. He left Afghanistan after the civil war broke out and was later arrested in Syria where he was planning to smuggle weapons into Palestinian territories. He later left Syria to Yemen, and back to Afghanistan after the Taliban took control. After the US invasion, Al−Sayyid fled to Waziristan where he later died in a battle against US forces.
Another Egyptian is profiled here, clearly a member of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Egyptian cadre. His bio shows that the spillover affect that followed the Afghan civil war in the early 1990s, had the kind of regional repercussions that could be seen in the coming months as Iraq becomes hostile territory for al-Qaida’s ideology and organization.
Abu−Bakr Azzam al−Falastini: His name is Iyyad Adil al−Qunnah from Jordan. His first visit to Afghanistan was when he joined jihad against the Soviets. He went back for after the Taliban took control and remained there until he was killed in the eastern region of Afghanistan in a battle against what was referred to as "Crusader forces."
A Palestinian by birth, this bio exposes one of the advantages that al-Qaida could exploit in any possible Levant strategy; its small cadre of ethnic Palestinians who could return to Gaza or other parts of the Occupied Territories and begin to build communities sympathetic to al-Qaida through the use of dawah and other forms of persuasion.
Abu−Bakr al−Maghribi: According to the biographical account, Abu−Bakr was born and raised in the southern part of Morocco. He traveled to Afghanistan for the first time only few weeks before September 11 attacks in the US. He trained with the Libyan group let by Abu−al−Layth al−Libi. He was killed in a US air raid in eastern Afghanistan.
Here we’re given a little window into the ethnic subdivisions within the pre 9/11 camp culture. Al-Maghribi was either guided toward or fell in with other North Africans. It’s this aspect of camp culture that may continue to prefigure the strategic affects of “spillover” from any regional jihad. The cadres built up in Afghanistan – cadres of Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Chechens, North Africans, Palestinians, Egyptians and Saudis – could return to their home regions and apply the skills and continue to build the social and logistical networks to continue the jihad.
Abu−Bak al−Iraqi: His name is Abd−al−Rahman from Iraq. He fled Iraq during Saddam Hussayn's rule with parents to Pakistan, then to Afghanistan where he joined military training camp after the US invasion. He died in a military operation by Pakistani forces in the eastern region of Afghanistan.
This bio doesn’t explain why Abd-al-Rahman fled Iraq, but it does point to the existence of an organized resistance prepared in response to American intervention in the region. There were military training camps in place soon after the invasion to prep young men for jihad against the Americans. It’s another example of the response pattern in global jihad that’s been around since the 1980s: whenever a non-Muslim government projects its power into regions dominated by Muslims, the response is to call a jihad and prepare for jihad. No matter where the US projects its power into traditionally Muslim territories, the jihad will follow.
Comments