A Study of "Martyrs in a Time of Alienation"
Part IV
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 IV.
Uwis al−Najdi (nickname): His name is Muhannad from Najd, Saudi Arabia. According to his biographical account, Muhannad traveled to Afghanistan around the time of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen. He joined Al−Faruq military training camp where he was selected later on to join leadership training course. He was appointed a trainer is Al−Faruq camp until the US invasion of Afghanistan. He participated in the battles in Kabul and led a group of fighters to Jalalabad areas where he spent the next fours until he was killed in a raid by US forces.
Once again we see an example of how a major attack inspired others inclined toward violent jihad to actively seek it. In this case we have a Saudi who eventually became a member of al-Qaida’s deep bench of leaders.
Asadallah al−Uzbaki (nickname): He fled Uzbekistan with his parents who sought refuge in Afghanistan. Asadallah joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and attended its schools until the US invasion of Afghanistan. He moved with his family to Pakistan and then to Iran where he pursued his religious studies. Asadallah moved back to Pakistan to pursue his schooling but shortly afterward decided to join jihad in Afghanistan where he was killed in an ambush against US forces.
This bio of an Uzbek named “Asadallah” highlights the porous nature of the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Pakistan and Iran. It clearly gives this al-Qaida operative the opportunity to move from one country to the next in search of ideological and religious training. It also begs the question, what role is Iran playing in the sheltering current and would-be Sunni radicals?
Asadallah al−Libi: He is Ziyad Bin Farraj al−Bah from Libya. He went to Afghanistan in 1990 and fought with the Afghan mujahidin in their war against the Soviet. He moved to Tajikistan with Khattab and was among the first to take part in jihad in that country. After an unsuccessful attempt to embark on jihad against the Libyan regime as a result of his expulsion from Sudan, he went back to Afghanistan after the Taliban took Kabul. After the US invasion, Ziyad al−Bah fled Afghanistan to Pakistan, and then Iran where he was captured. He managed to escape Iran and join Abu−al−Layth al−Libi in Afghanistan where he was killed.
The bio here of a key al-Qaida member, shows several important historical characteristics of al-Qaida’s early development. First, it was already developing a deep bench in Chechnya in the mid-1990s, drawing military commanders from the decade’s ongoing regional jihads. Second, is the central Asia proving ground – the countries of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Western China, etc. that appears to be source of both leaders (for training) and ground troops.
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