A Study of "Martyrs in a Time of Alienation" (VIII)

A Study of "Martyrs in a Time of Alienation"
Part VII

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.

Previous posts can be found here.  This is Part VIII.

Abu−Ja'far al−Maghribi: His name was Amir al−Azizi from Morocco. He was recruited in Spain and later traveled to Afghanistan where he received him military training. He returned to Afghanistan after his plans of a terrorist attack inside Spain was foiled. He crossed Iran with Abd−al−Aziz Buzlaf (Bilal al−Maghribi) reaching Kandahar. After the demise of the Taliban government, he fled to the tribal areas of Afghanistan where he fought for pro−Taliban and Al−Qa'ida forces and played a role in media production. He was later killed in US strike in Jalalabad area.

The timeline of this jihadi’s biography is quite murky but it’s clear that it reflects the common arc of radicalization in the Afghan/Soviet era. He was a first generation immigrant to Spain.  It hints at the possibility that he knew Abu Dahdah or Al-Suri. Iran features in this biography like it does in several others.  Clearly, the Iranians have facilitated the transit of Al Qaeda members and supporters.  His life provides yet another example of the clear intersection of media and operational activity. They’re “journalists,” they’re jihadis first.

Mawlawi Gul Manur: Gul Manur was a student of religion from Waziristan. He traveled to Afghanistan before the US invasion to fight alongside the Taliban. He remained in Afghanistan until he died in a bombing.

Not much here, but this biography does offer some hint of the recruitment or facilitation role played by Pakistani madrassahs.

Ibn Harrathah al−Makki: He is Abdallah Bin Salman al−Qathami al−Uthiby from Saudi Arabia. He began his jihad in Kashmir then traveled to Afghanistan here he later died in the eastern provinces.

Could this Saudi have been an Arab member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba?  Here again, we have an example of the near seamless connections between regional jihad wars and the global movement of which Al Qaeda is a prominent member.

Abu−Hazim al−Suri: His name is Muhammad Banghali from Syria. He traveled to Afghanistan shortly before September 11 attacks in the US. He was killed in the eastern region of Afghanistan.

It’s unclear just what motivated this man to join Al Qaeda or some other group in Afghanistan.  It is possible that he was active in the camps dominated by other men from the al-Shams region, like the ones lead by Zarqawi or Al-Suri.

Abu−al−Hasan al−Sumali: His name is Ibrahim (last name unknown). He was born and raised in Kenya. He fought in his country of origin Somalia before he went to Afghanistan where he was killed in the eastern region.

The influence of the global Salafist-Jihadist presence in East Africa probably hasn’t been assessed with any thoroughness, but it’s clear that this son of Somalian refugees was radicalized in Kenya (not a good sign), easily moved between borders, and eventually traveled to Afghanistan to train (or perhaps seek advanced training?).  Without a better idea of how many “al-Sumalis” are in the Afghan/Pak region right now or have made it back to Somalia, I think we’ll continue to underestimate the influence of the global Salafist-Jihadist movement.