A cache of intelligence detailing the training of Al Qaeda’s East Africa group that was obtained exclusively by the Toronto Star may help explain how a small group of terrorists carried out the deadly siege that took Kenyan authorities four days to stop.But don't call them antisemitic. They hate that.
“Each martyrdom seeker will be trained in Somalia preferably for two months and he will only know his mission,” says one document discovered on a flash drive beside the slain body of the former African leader, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed.
“The brothers will be pushed through many battles to see how they react under pressure and they will be analyzed to see if they can keep their composure. They will be tested mentally to see if they are smart enough to carry out these operations.”
The documents may be dated — “Fazul,” as he was most commonly known among intelligence officials, was shot dead by Somali forces in 2011 — but looking at the former Al Qaeda leader’s meticulous planning in the wake of the Westgate mall attack in Nairobi reveals chilling clues.
The Star obtained the Fazul documents last year. Described by some counterterrorism officials as a “treasure trove of intelligence,” the material was recovered on flash drives and inside the bullet-ridden Toyota Hilux that Fazul’s driver tried to ram through a government checkpoint near Mogadishu.
While there were dozens of documents, Internet frame grabs and media reports in English, Arabic, Somali and Swahili, along with more than 50 video clips, which appear to be shot from the back of a car, two documents provide the most insight.
Training instructions are part of a planning paper titled “International Operations,” where the targets identified are in the U.K. “Our objectives are to strike London with low-cost operations that would cause a heavy blow amongst the hierarchy and Jewish communities using attacks similar to the tactics used by our brothers in Mumbai,” it says, referring to the 2008 Indian attack that lasted for three days.
Some of the targets in the Fazul document include London’s prestigious hotels and Britain’s Stamford Hill and Golders Green neighbourhoods, populated “with tens of thousands of Jews crammed in a small area.” The prestigious Eton School, attended by many members of Britain’s royal elite, is also listed.
“These attacks must be backed with carefully planned media campaign to show why we chose our targets to refute the hypocrites, clear doubts amongst Muslims and also inspire Muslim youth to copy.”
(h/t Geoffrey)