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

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

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 X.

Abu−Khalid al−Maghribi: His name is Muhammad Zarli from Morocco. He traveled to Afghanistan from Italy after the US invasion. He fought in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan where he died.

It’s not clear whether Zarli had been an immigrant to Italy before his fateful trip, or whether he was simply using Italy as a transit point, but it’s clear from this and several other bios and numerous CT arrests that Western European countries are a key transit node for men seeking jihad in the East regardless of whether they provide support for the effort.

His bio also belies the idea that Afghanistan was considered a “good” war that people supported.  We now have hundreds of examples of individuals who sought jihad in Afghanistan after the US invasion. Clearly at least some Muslims rejected the argument.

Abu−Khalid al−Kuwaiti: His name is Ali Bin−Sanafi al−Shammari from Kuwait. He fought in the tribal areas in eastern Afghanistan where he died along with Abu−Khalid al−Maghribi in an attack on their position.

Not much to comment on here.

Khattab al−Azadi: His name is Talal Bin−Hasan al−Zahrani from Saudi Arabia. He traveled to Afghanistan where he died in a battle with US forces.

Another Saudi.  His kunya is probably a paean to Ibn Khattab.

Abu−Dujanah al−Imarati: His name is Miftah Bin−Sa'id al−Tanaji from the United Arab Emirates. He traveled to Kashmir where he trained then later joined Abu−al−Layth al−Libi in eastern Afghanistan.

Perhaps another Arab working or training with LeT?  How did he get to Kashmir one wonders?  Through what connections in the Emirates?  And just how did he move from a Lashkar operation/camp to working directly with senior Al Qaeda leadership?  How closely are they operating with LeT?

Darwish al−Waziri: Darwish is from Waziristan where he was recruited to lead the men of his village in jihad. He was later killed in an air raid that targeted their position.

Here is an example of what kind of recruits the Taliban uses, entire villages of men, most likely fighting under the banner of the Taliban, and more likely fighting in the name of their tribal leader.