Al Qaeda calls for new attacks in US

Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, which officials have called the terror group's most dangerous affiliate, has issued two threatening new communiques praising recent lone-wolf style attacks against the West and calling for more of them, reports CNN from Washington. "We urge you to strike America in its own home and beyond," says a letter attributed to Ibrahim al-Asiri, the master bomb-maker with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The letter, according to a translation by SITE Intelligence Group, states, "America is first." The news agency is unable to independently verify that Asiri himself wrote it, but the letter has drawn the attention of terror trackers such as MEMRI, Flashpoint and SITE. Another senior AQAP leader, Khaled Batarfi, released a video, which appears to have been shot in a studio, carrying a similar statement. Batarfi does not attribute the message of the video to Asiri, despite its similarities to the letter. A U.S. counterterrorism official described the letter as "consistent with rhetoric the new leader stated upon taking over al Qaeda's most active affiliate that is known to threaten Western interests."
Asiri has a $5 million bounty on his head, and analysts say if he did write the letter, he may have been putting himself at risk. "The concern for Asiri would be that somehow the message would be traceable back to him -- whether by courier, or some digital stamp inside of the message," said Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute. "We have seen U.S. drone strikes kill a series of top al Qaeda leaders in Yemen over the past few months." But if the letter is genuine, it would indicate that Asiri, who rarely makes public statements, is still alive. Intelligence officials say Asiri was a key player in the 2009 Christmas Day bomb attempt in which a passenger from Africa almost managed to detonate a bomb aboard a Detroit-bound plane that he'd hidden in his underwear.
Asiri was also behind the placing of bombs in printer cartridges aboard planes headed for the United States that were intercepted before they reached their targets. He even designed a bomb to be carried on the body of his own brother, Abdullah al-Asiri, in attempt to kill Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism chief in 2009. The bomb killed his brother, but the Saudi minister survived.

 

Al Qaeda calls for new attacks in US

Al Qaedas branch in Yemen, which officials have called the terror groups most dangerous affiliate, has issued two threatening new communiques praising recent lone-wolf style attacks against the West and calling for more of them, reports CNN from Washington. We urge you to strike America in its own home and beyond, says a letter attributed to Ibrahim al-Asiri, the master bomb-maker with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The letter, according to a translation by SITE Intelligence Group, states, America is first. The news agency is unable to independently verify that Asiri himself wrote it, but the letter has drawn the attention of terror trackers such as MEMRI, Flashpoint and SITE. Another senior AQAP leader, Khaled Batarfi, released a video, which appears to have been shot in a studio, carrying a similar statement. Batarfi does not attribute the message of the video to Asiri, despite its similarities to the letter. A U.S. counterterrorism official described the letter as consistent with rhetoric the new leader stated upon taking over al Qaedas most active affiliate that is known to threaten Western interests. Asiri has a $5 million bounty on his head, and analysts say if he did write the letter, he may have been putting himself at risk. The concern for Asiri would be that somehow the message would be traceable back to him -- whether by courier, or some digital stamp inside of the message, said Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute. We have seen U.S. drone strikes kill a series of top al Qaeda leaders in Yemen over the past few months. But if the letter is genuine, it would indicate that Asiri, who rarely makes public statements, is still alive. Intelligence officials say Asiri was a key player in the 2009 Christmas Day bomb attempt in which a passenger from Africa almost managed to detonate a bomb aboard a Detroit-bound plane that hed hidden in his underwear. Asiri was also behind the placing of bombs in printer cartridges aboard planes headed for the United States that were intercepted before they reached their targets. He even designed a bomb to be carried on the body of his own brother, Abdullah al-Asiri, in attempt to kill Saudi Arabias counterterrorism chief in 2009. The bomb killed his brother, but the Saudi minister survived.