New Taliban Magazine
Appeals For Help To Defeat Drone Technology, Says: '[Obama] Wanted Dead
Only'; 'We Are Fighting In Khurasan But Our Eyes Are On Palestine';
Secret Jihadi Group In Pakistan Air Force Identified; Encrypted Email
Contact Provided
By: Tufail Ahmad*
An image from the new magazine 'Azan'
Introduction
A new jihadi magazine, launched by the Taliban in
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and comparable to Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine, earnestly appeals for help
to defeat U.S. drone technology, announces the formation of a death
squad to kill former Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf,
seeks to recruit self-radicalizing jihadi youth, produces a full-page
image of U.S. President Barack Obama under the words "Wanted Dead Only,"
and declares that the jihadi forces' ultimate aim is to liberate
Palestine from Israel.
Produced in English-language for jihadi youth
worldwide, the magazine is called "Azan" – or call to prayer – and has
been released by the "Taliban in Khurasan," a geographical region
encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan. The first issue is dated March
2013. The names of editors and publisher are not given, but the
expression "Taliban in Khurasan" seeks to remove any distinction between
the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. Contrary to the belief of many
Western analysts, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which represents
Pakistani jihadis, has always identified itself as part of the Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan, the lead body for Afghan Taliban led by Mullah
Muhammad Omar, who is described by Azan as "commander of [all] the
believers."
A PDF copy of Azan was released on the Jamia Hafsa
Urdu Forum, a jihadi internet forum set up after the 2007 Pakistani army
operation in Islamabad's Red Mosque and its adjoining Jamia Hafsa
madrassa for women,
[1]
which was ordered by Pervez Musharraf. It produces an image of militant
commander Adnan Rasheed surrounded by masked members of a death squad
formed to kill Musharraf, who recently returned to Pakistan to contest
elections but is under judicial custody pertaining to court cases
against him, including one charging him with treason. Adnan Rasheed, a
former Pakistan Air Force commando, is a militant commander who was
freed from Pakistani jail by the Taliban.
An unsigned editorial, while stressing the
magazine's jihadi mission, notes that it is also aimed at
self-radicalizing Muslim youth, stating: "Azan is also a platform for
the Muslim men and women abroad who seek to humiliate the tyrants in
their own lands. We ask all Muslims holding such noble aspirations of
discharging their sacred duty of jihad to contact us…." The editorial
outlines a media war, stating: "It is also imperative that the
ideological battle that the Crusader-Zionist enemy is waging be fully
laid out in front of the Muslim masses and a proper reaction to this
onslaught be formalized…."
Perhaps in a reference to the U.S. withdrawal from
Afghanistan by 2014, the editorial observes: "The world today stands at
the eve of the return to Khilafah as was destined to happen according to
the Ahadith [sayings and deeds] of the Messenger of Allah [Prophet
Muhammad]." In this context, the description of Mullah Omar as
"commander of [all] the believers" is relevant because contrary to
depictions of Mullah Omar in the Western media as leader of the Afghan
Taliban, he is indeed deemed by jihadis worldwide as Emir-ul-Momineen,
leader of the faithful.
Militant Commander Adnan
Rasheed Says He Was Influenced By India's Release Of Maulana Masood
Azhar And Later Joined "A Clandestine Jihadi Group That Had Been Working
In The [Pakistan] Air Force For Years"
An image of Adnan Rasheed with his death squad formed to kill General Musharraf
Adnan Rasheed was jailed in Pakistan for his role
in an assassination bid on General Pervez Musharraf. However, he was
freed in a daring jailbreak launched by hundreds of Taliban militants in
the Pakistani town of Bannu in April 2012. "Azan" carries a long
interview in which Adnan Rasheed recounts his childhood and school days
spent in Lahore and his joining the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in 1997 and
interactions with non-Muslim soldiers, and how a feeling engulfed him
that he is "a slave without chains" in the Pakistani government.
Asked what inspired him for jihad, Adnan Rasheed
says: "The very first time the jihad inspired me, that was the release
of a certain popular scholar from jail [Maulana Masood Azhar, released
by India in exchange for passengers of an Indian plane hijacked to
Kandahar in 1999] when he announced the formation of the organization
known as Jaish-e-Muhammad. The second time I was with the Tablighi
Jamaat for three days in Karachi. Whilst in a mosque with them, I found
the book Fadayl-e-Jihad (The Virtues of Jihad) [authored by Masood
Azhar]."
He also talks about his job dissatisfaction in the
Pakistan Air Force and how he had planned to go to Germany for higher
studies when the 9/11 attacks took place and he "didn't believe how
America could have been attacked." Narrating how he was persuaded by a
colleague to join the Mullah Omar-led Taliban after 9/11, he says: "This
eventually became an issue of the heart and mind. I was dreaming of
(going to) Europe when 9/11 happened; suddenly, my brothers in faith –
the Taliban – needed me."
In October 2001, as the U.S. invaded Afghanistan,
Adnan Rasheed was introduced to Maulana Masood Azhar and proceeded to
the Mansehra terror training camp, where he spent 23 days and was
interviewed by several militant commanders. "[The interviewers] said
that they had made my Tashkeel (delegation) back to my Air Force
squadron. They told me that I should work there and give the dawah
[invitation] of jihad, and that the Islamic Emirate had collapsed and so
there was no job for me in the Taliban Air Force." The fact that the
jihadi interviewers decided to send him back to the PAF indicates that
they were working for Pakistani military commanders.
Adnan Rasheed states: "In December 2001, the
relationship between India and Pakistan deteriorated suddenly so our
squadron was ordered to move forward to base Murid in the Chakwal area
of Punjab; the Air Headquarters ordered the imams [prayer leaders] of
PAF mosques to mobilize the PAF personnel for jihad. So it was a golden
chance for us to give dawah openly. About 30 brothers joined us.
Meanwhile, one day, a brother named Y came to us from Shorkot base. He
came with the invitation to join a clandestine jihadi group that had
been working in the Air Force for years. After authenticating his
claims, we three gave Bayah (oath of allegiance) to brother Y for
Emir-ul-Momineen Mullah Mohammad Omar."
Adnan Rasheed identifies the secret jihadi group in
the PAF as "Idarat-ul-Pakistan," or institution of Pakistan. He states:
"The mission of this group… named Idarat-ul-Pakistan was to prepare
mujahideen in all three forces – Army, Navy, and Air Force - for a
future takeover. But until then, its mission was to get training from
Jaish-e-Muhammad and to fight in Afghanistan under their setup
[organizational leadership]. We were of the view that Maulana Masood
Azhar was a special Emir for Pakistan from Mullah Omar; so we were
following Masood Azhar in Pakistan…."
"I Want To Give … [My Prison
Inmates] Glad Tidings That Soon Our Brothers Will Strike On Their Cages
To Free Them"; "The Jihad Is The Only Solution To The Plight Of Our
Ummah… It Cannot Be Stopped Now"
Adnan Rasheed then goes to narrate how a
jihadi-minded officer granted him four months' leave to go to
Afghanistan, and later when he returned he found that he was basically
working for Jaish-e-Muhammad under the command of the Pakistani
military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He observes: "I decided to
talk to my officer commanding, Wing Commander Mushtaq, directly. So I
went to him. He used to call me Taliban. I said, 'Sir, do you know that a
martyr will take 70 people along with him to Jannah [paradise]?' He
said, 'yes.' I said, 'I want to go in the path of Allah for 4 months; so
I need a leave. I promise you that if I get martyrdom, I will take you
to Jannah!' He said, 'Promise?' I said, 'Yes.' He then said that my
leave was guaranteed [sic, granted]; so then I left for Jaish-e-Muhammad
[training camp in Afghanistan]."
"[Later, it] was revealed to me that neither Masood
Azhar nor [militant commander] Haji Abul Jabbar was officially
appointed Emir for Pakistan [by Mullah Omar]; they were working under
the ISI. So, I went to my Emir of Idara[t-ul-Pakistan], Dr. Y and told
him that, 'Brother, we are wronged! There is no difference between us
and Jaish-e-Muhammad. We are soldiers in uniform and they are soldiers
without uniform. How strange it is that we follow them and they take
instruction from our institutions – the ISI!"
Adnan Rasheed's interview is perhaps the most
authentic evidence about security experts' established view that the
Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been creating
and nurturing jihadi organizations in Pakistan so that they can be used
to advance Pakistan's foreign policy objectives in Afghanistan and
against India. "Finally in July 2003, we declared our independence from
the Pakistani organizations and decided to somehow approach
Emir-ul-Momineen [Mullah Omar] directly," the militant commander adds.
Adnan Rasheed's image is published surrounded by a
group of armed masked militants who form a death squad to kill General
Musharraf. Referring to Musharraf's return from self-exile to Pakistan,
he states: "When jackal's death approaches, it heads towards the city.
The mujahideen of Islam have prepared a special squad to send Pervez
Musharraf to hell. The squad includes martyrdom bombers, special assault
team, sniper team, and a close combat team." He identifies three
reasons for previous assassination plots on Musharraf: i) his decision
to make Pakistan a frontline state in the war on terror; ii) arrests of
foreign jihadis and their handover to America; and iii) assistance to
the U.S. and NATO in the war against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Asked when he decided it was haram (forbidden in Islam) to be working
for Pakistani military, he says it was U.S. President George Bush who
"asked everyone in the world to be with them or against them. So, when
the Pakistan armed forces sided with him, I chose to be against him."
Adnan Rasheed discusses the Pakistani military's
insincerity in the use of jihadis and talks about his time in prison,
stating: "My other fellows – 13 in number – are still in jails. You are
all requested to make dua [prayer] for their release. Yes, I want to
give them glad tidings that soon our brothers will strike on their cages
to free them, Allah willing." He sums up his mission: "The jihad is the
only solution to the plight of our ummah. We are suffering today from
the mistakes of the past, and the biggest mistake was forsaking the
jihad. It cannot be stopped now…."
Magazine Appeals For Help To
Defeat U.S. Drone Technology, Says: "Before 9/11, There Was Only
Afghanistan; Today, It Is Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Mali, Algeria,
Yemen, Iraq, Syria… The List [Of Jihadi Movements] Will Only Continue
To Grow"
In an image, the magazine says: "We are fighting in Khurasan but our eyes are on Palestine"
While the highlight of the magazine is Adnan
Rasheed's detailed interview, there are several articles worth noting.
In an article titled "The Drone Chain," a writer named Jaffer Hussain
narrates the tragedy brought by the U.S. drone strikes, and how poor
people in the Pakistani tribal region are given money to plant chips,
leading to the drone attacks. Hussain blames the Pakistani military for
assisting in the U.S. drone program.
The article calls upon Muslims to provide
assistance to defeat the drone technology, noting: "These drones can be
hacked and manipulated, as evidenced by the efforts of the Iraq
mujahideen. Furthermore, they can be destroyed using various
technologies that the mujahideen are working on. But the Muslims of the
world must question themselves as to what role they are playing in
helping these innocent Muslims with the abilities that Allah has given
them. This is a call to anyone in the Islamic ummah with knowledge,
expertise, and theories regarding anti-drone technology. The Ummah is
not short of brilliant minds – from the millions of Muslims that live
all over the world, there would possibly be quite a few who would assist
their brothers in combating these evil missiles designed by the devils
of the world.
"Any opinions, thoughts, ideas, and practical
implementations to defeat this drone technology must be communicated to
us as early as possible because these would aid the Ummah greatly in its
war against the Crusader-Zionist enemy," the article adds, calling
earnestly for help.
In another article, "On U-Turns And The Pakistan
Army Doctrine," the writer Ikrimah Anwar discusses "the role of
nationalistic 'Muslim' armies that have supported the Crusader-Zionist
alliance in their satanic assault on Allah's Earth." Anwar criticizes
the Pakistani military's recent move to focus on the Taliban on the
Afghan border by deprioritizing India, which has been traditionally the
number one enemy.
Anwar observes: "The Pakistan Army recently
published their new army doctrine, that marked a curious day in the
history of its existence. The doctrine states that the 'Army is turning
its face away from ominous eastern borders [against India], looking now
to disruptive western [Afghan] borders, and deeming internal [terrorist]
threats as being more pressing than external, (i.e. Indian)
aggression.'"
He traces Pakistan Army's role against jihadi
forces right from the early days of Pakistan since its creation in 1947,
its operations in Baluchistan, the fighting against east Pakistanis and
defeat in 1971, the post-2001 role as an ally of the Crusaders, the
2007 military operation against armed female students of Red Mosque and
Jamia Hafsa madrassa in Islamabad, etc., to stress that the Pakistani
military has been working in the interests of infidels.
"Islam Negates Every War
That Is Fought For Wealth, Family, Tribe, Or Nation; In Islam, The Only
War That Is Justified And Obligatory Is That Which Is Fought In The Way
Of Allah"
Cover page of the magazine
In an article, "On the Road to Khilafah," writer
Muhammad Qasim discusses the system of caliphate as envisaged in the
Koran and sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad. Reviewing major
developments of the past century such as World War I, which ended the
Islamic caliphate in 1924, he goes on to describe an emergence of the
caliphate again, especially since the Taliban began implementation of
Islamic sharia in Afghanistan from 1996-2001.
The author of the article then reviews jihadi
movements across the world – in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, Mali,
Somalia, Chechnya, Nigeria, Libya, and Syria – and presents them as the
pathways to a global Islamic caliphate. "The world is watching as the
path to Khilafah foretold by Prophet Muhammad is weaving itself
forthright under the noses of the Western powers. Before 9/11, there was
only Afghanistan. Today, it is Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Mali,
Algeria, Yemen, Iraq, Syria – and of course, the list will only continue
to grow. The West spent its entirety on trying to abolish the Khilafah
and the jihad but they could only provide more cause for these very
aspects of Islam to brighten forth." Separate articles on jihadi
movements in Syria and Mali are also produced in the magazine.
"Malala, Education, And An Unruly Media," is the
title of another article, whose author criticizes the international
media for lauding Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was
attacked by jihadis for writing an online diary for the BBCUrdu.com in
favor of girls' rights after the Taliban imposed a total ban on female
education in 2009. The writer also blames the BBC for hatching a plan
against the Taliban by getting Malala to write the diary. An article
written by slain Al-Qaeda militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi criticizing
freedom of belief and expression is produced to contrast Islam and
democracy, describing the former as "a complete system based on
obedience to Allah" and the latter as "a complete religion based on
obedience to the people."
An article titled "Nationalism And Islam" is also
produced, to negate the notion of territorial nationalism, stating:
"Islam negates every war that is fought for wealth, family, tribe, or
nation. In Islam, the only war that is justified and obligatory is that
which is fought in the way of Allah, and for the establishment and
victory of His Religion…. But, according to the Tawagheet (false idols)
of today, such a war is not allowed. According to them, only a war that
is waged for the 'nation state' is allowed…. But fighting for
nationalism is clearly haram (prohibited) in Islam."
"Azan" Offers
Encryption-Based Contact For Self-Radicalizing Muslim Youth Worldwide,
Gives Details Of Software Code For Secret Communication
The magazine also contains a number of articles and
quotes from jihadis worldwide, including Anwar Al-Awlaki, Osama bin
Laden, and a court statement of Faisal Shahzad, a Taliban jihadi who
tried unsuccessfully to explode a car bomb in New York's Times Square on
May 1, 2010. Shahzad is quoted as telling the U.S. court:
"This is only one life. If I were to be given a
thousand lives then I would spend each of them waging jihad in the path
of Allah, defending my lands, and raising the Law of Allah to be the
highest. Allah's law is supreme and it surpasses all other man-made
systems and laws. We do not follow these man-made laws because they are
always corrupt."
Importantly, the magazine offers self-radicalizing
Muslim youth contact details and encryption codes to get in touch with
the jihadi leaders. It says: "If you would like to contribute to the
magazine or to the global jihad against the Crusader-Zionist alliance –
or if you would like to ask questions or give some comments, then
contact us using the following email address: azan23452@yahoo.com."
It also notes details about the software used by
the jihadis for secret communication: "The procedure for secret
communication with us is the same as with the
Inspire magazine.
All communications will go through the Asrar-ul-Mujahideen Ver. 2
Program. Instructions on using that program can be found in the first
issue of Inspire magazine of AQAP, as well as on the websites where the
software is available: >>
www.ansar1.info, >>
www.ribatmarkaz.co.nr.
"(Our email address and public key will be changed with every issue
InshaAllah). Please note our public key…. [software code here edited
out]"
Endnotes:
[1] Jamia Hafsa Urdu Forum, May 5, 2013. The original English of the quotes has been mildly edited for clarity and standardization.
