The As-Sahab Foundation for Islamic Media Publication, the media/propaganda wing of al-Qaeda has released a message from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri entitled "On the Crusader Invasion of Somalia" (Arabic: الغزو الصليبي للصومال). This message runs for length of approximately 7 minutes and 10 seconds.
In this message the al-Qaeda leader urges al-Shabaab fighters to ignore the superior numbers of their enemies and to continue to attack them using ambushes and suicide-bombings. The message appears to have been made recently given its mention of the fall of Kismayo which Ayman al-Zawahiri apportions some blame directly onto the United States.
For observers of al-Qaeda and in particular al-Shabaab this video is also significant in that during this message the al-Qaeda makes no mention of the situation of Omar Hammami (Abu Mansour al-Amriki) and recent reports of division of the Somali Islamist groups leadership over matters of strategic outlook and tactics. It would therefore appear that any hopes that al-Amriki may have had of a public intervention by the international leadership of al-Qaeda will not be met. This is not to say however that Ayman al-Zawahiri or other senior leaders are not attempting to do so behind the scenes but rather this message is an attempt to publicly reaffirm the place of al-Shabaab within al-Qaeda and also within the global Salafi-Jihadi movement internationally.
In this message the al-Qaeda leader urges al-Shabaab fighters to ignore the superior numbers of their enemies and to continue to attack them using ambushes and suicide-bombings. The message appears to have been made recently given its mention of the fall of Kismayo which Ayman al-Zawahiri apportions some blame directly onto the United States.
For observers of al-Qaeda and in particular al-Shabaab this video is also significant in that during this message the al-Qaeda makes no mention of the situation of Omar Hammami (Abu Mansour al-Amriki) and recent reports of division of the Somali Islamist groups leadership over matters of strategic outlook and tactics. It would therefore appear that any hopes that al-Amriki may have had of a public intervention by the international leadership of al-Qaeda will not be met. This is not to say however that Ayman al-Zawahiri or other senior leaders are not attempting to do so behind the scenes but rather this message is an attempt to publicly reaffirm the place of al-Shabaab within al-Qaeda and also within the global Salafi-Jihadi movement internationally.
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