The internet: A virtual training camp?

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 20, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 215-233

  Stenersen, Anne ^a  

^a NORWEGIAN DEFENCE RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT FFI   (Norway)

Author keywords

Al Qaeda; Internet; Terrorist training; Virtual training

Indexed keywords

EID: 43149125184     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: 15561836     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546550801920790     Document Type: Article

References (70)

1. I would like to thank my colleagues at FFI, Brynjar Lia, Thomas Hegghammer, and Petter Nesser, for their valuable feedback on this article.
2. See, for example, Gabriel Weimann, Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2006), 123-129;
3. Hanna Rogan, Jihadism Online: A Study of How Al-Qaida and Radical Islamist Groups Use the Internet for Terrorist Purposes (Kjeller: FFI, 2006);
4. Brynjar Lia, "Al Qaeda Online: Understanding Jihadi Internet Infrastructure," Jane's Intelligence Review (Jan 2006).
5. Gabriel Weimann, "Virtual Training Camps: Terrorists' Use of the Internet," in James J. F. Forest, ed., Teaching Terror: Strategic and Tactical Learning in the Terrorist World (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), 112.
6. For example, the forum Stormfront (www.stormfront.org/forum/), with 100,000 registered members and 20,000 active members as of May 2007, has a sub-forum entitled "Self-defense, Martial Arts and Preparedness." The page www.militiaofmontana.com/ sells military training manuals. However, a closer study of other extremist websites is necessary in order to determine the similarities and differences between different types of extremist websites.
7. Here, "hacktivism" refers to a form of jihad (also labelled "E-jihad" or "cyber jihad") that uses the Internet as a battlefield, and the aim is often to destroy or deface "enemy" websites, theft of sensitive data, etc. Hacktivism is clearly part of the "jihadism online" phenomenon, although it has had little practical influence so far.
8. Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, The Call to Global Islamic Resistance [in Arabic] (Place and publisher unknown; 2005), 1425.
9. Ibid., 1424.
10. Ibid., 1428.
11. For more on al-Suri's training doctrine, see Brynjar Lia, "Al-Suri's Doctrines for Decentralised Jihadi Training - Part I," Terrorism Monitor 5, no. 1 (18 Jan 2007);
12. and Brynjar Lia, "Al-Suri's Doctrines for Decentralised Jihadi Training - Part 2," Terrorism Monitor 5, no. 2 (1 Feb 2007).
13. The Egyptian Army manual, entitled al-shirak al-khida'i, was downloaded from al-Firdaws (www.alfirdaws.org/vb/) on 5 Sept 2006, while the Iraqi manual, entitled istikhdam al-asliha al-kimiyawiyya wal-haya'iyya was downloaded from al-Firdaws (www. alfirdaws.org/vb/) on 4 March 2007.
14. For an analysis of Al Qaeda's "media jihad," see Hanna Rogan, Al Qaeda's Online Media Strategies: From Abu Reuter to Irhabi 007 (Kjeller: FFI, 2007).
15. Encyclopaedia of Jihad, Part One: Security and Intelligence (1423 h.), 2.
16. Ibid., 2-3.
17. Ibid., 3.
18. "Link to the video on how to manufacture the explosive belt" [in Arabic], thread posted on al-Ma'sada al-Jihadiyya, 11 Jan 2005, www.alm2sda.net/vb/.
19. Encyclopaedia of Preparation, www.geocities.com/i3dad_jihad4/.
20. See, for example, the Encyclopaedia of Preparation, 3rd edition at http://geocities. com/m_eddad/ and 4th edition at www.geocities.com/i3dad.
21. This estimate is based on counting the documents and pages in the 4th edition of the Encyclopaedia of Preparation, downloaded by FFI in June 2005.
22. "Fourteen Lessons on the Manufacture of the Atomic Bomb, with Pictures (fast to download)" [in Arabic], thread posted on Muntadayat Risalat al-Umma al-Jihadiyya, www. alommh.net/forums/showthread.phpt=911; No. 1, "The Nuclear Bomb of Jihad and How to Enrich Uranium" [in Arabic], 2.
23. Encyclopaedia of Preparation, www.geocities.com/i3dad_jihad4/.
24. These rolling titles are present, for example, in the videos entitled Nitric Acid Fulminate, Mercury Fulminate, Ammonium Nitrate, Nitro Cellulose, Nitro Glycol, and Nitro Glycerine.
25. I would like to thank FFI Scientists Eirik Svinsås and Erik Unneberg for their useful contributions to this section.
26. The first lesson of the series appeared on the jihadi web page Mubashir al-Jihadi in July 2007, see http://web.archive.org/web/20070710224338/mobasher. 110mb.com/Shura. htm.
27. The Shura Foundation has claimed that Mubashir al-Jihadi is its primary media outlet, see http://mobasher.110mb.com/ShuraXShura.htm.
28. Mubashir al-Jihadi, http://mobasher.110mb.com/ShuraXShura.htm.
29. Al-Suri (see note 6 above), 1425.
30. One member of the al-Ikhlas forum went so far as to question the validity of the Lessons in How to Destroy the Cross series, expressing concerns that it might contain altered formulations intended to harm the operator. See "Specialized Series of Lessons on Explosives and their Manufacture" [in Arabic], thread posted on al-Ikhlas, 9 Nov 2007, www.alekhlaas. net/forum/showthread.php?t=96621&page=4.
31. See home page of the Global Islamic Media, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ abubanan.
32. Proceedings 20/2004, Indictment of April 10 2006, Court of First Instance Number 6 of the Audencia National [in Spanish], courtesy Petter Nesser, FFI.
33. For example, Lesson 3 seems partly identical to a fatwa by Shaykh Ibn Baz entitled "wujub al-i'dad lil-a'da'." Lesson 4 is identical to a passage in the book "al-zinadfi wujub al-jiliad" by Sultan bin Bijad al-'Utaybi. Lessons 8, 10, 13, have been previously issued by the Islamic Media Center (IMC). Lesson 9 has also been published under the name of a Saudi cleric, Abu Jandal al-Azdi (Faris al-Zahrani).
34. "The Series for Preparation to Jihad, Lesson 2: Urban Warfare" [in Arabic], 28-29.
35. "The Series for Preparation to Jihad, Lesson 6: To Prepare the Ummah for Jihad" [in Arabic], 83.
36. For background information on the QAP, see, for example, Thomas Hegghammer, "Terrorist Recruitment and Radicalisation in Saudi Arabia," The Middle East Policy 13, no. 4 (2006).
37. Stephen Ulph, "A Guide to Jihad on the Web," Terrorism Focus 2, no. 7 (2005).
38. "al-khatima," Mu'askar al-Battar 2 (2004).
39. Abu Thabit al-Najdi, "fi al-bud' kilma," Mu'askar al-Battar 1 (2004), 3.
40. "al-khatima," Mu'askar al-Battar 1 (2004), 28.
41. Brynjar Lia, "Doctrines for Jihadi Terrorist Training," Paper presented at Oslo Military Society, May 2007.
42. For more information, see Anne Stenersen, "Chem-Bio Cyber-Class: Assessing Jihadist Chemical and Biological Manuals," Jane's Intelligence Review (1 Sept 2007).
43. "The Answers of Brother Abdallah Dhu al-Bajadin to the Mujahidin's Questions on the Science of Explosives" [in Arabic], Kata'ib al-Firdaws al-A'la, downloaded from al-Firdaws, 13 June 2007, www.alfirdaws.org/vb/.
44. Abu al-Khansa' al-Shami, "Clarifying statement regarding our E-mail address" [in Arabic], Islamic Media Center, undated. Courtesy Brynjar Lia, FFI,
45. United States of America v. Oussama Kassir, Complaint, Southern District of New York, 3.
46. United States of America v. Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, Oussama Abdullah Kassir and Haroon Rashid Aswat, Indictment, Southern District of New York, 14-21.
47. See, for example, various issues of al-Fursan, the periodical of the Islamic Army in Iraq.
48. The description of one of these CD-ROMs corresponds well with Hizballah's "Explosive Belt" video reviewed by this author. "The Seizing of the Abu Hasan," Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 May 2003, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/5/;
49. "Israel Captures top Hezbollah bomb-maker in ship seizure," Irish Examiner, 23 May 2003.
50. "The Seizing of the Abu Hasan" (see note 44 above).
51. The presence of Hizballah-made videos on jihadi webpages was first recorded by the FFI in early 2006.
52. Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, "Insurgency Instructions: A Video Made by Hizbullah-and Possibly Iran-Is Helping Iraqi Insurgents Wage Their War," Newsweek, 24 Aug 2005.
53. Ibid.
54. The name sijjil is probably derived from a Qur'anic expression, bi-hijaratin min sijjil, usually translated as "stones of baked clay."
55. EFPs used in Iraq are remote-controlled IEDs, typically fired from the side of the road, and normally using a concave copper disc as a "projectile." Hizballah's hand grenade-type device described in the sijjil video is meant to be thrown onto the armoured vehicle and is designed as a shaped charge which relies on a cone-shaped liner.
56. "Video of an Anti-Tank Hand Grenade" [in Arabic], thread posted on Shabakat al-Muhajirun al-Islamiyya, 18 Feb 2007, www.mohajroon,com/vb/.
57. "Al-Buraq workshop:(21m): Video tape "The Ultimate Sniper" translated into Arabic" [in Arabic], thread posted on al-Firdaws, 24 Oct 2007, www.al-firdaws.net/vb/showthread.php?t=30596.
58. Other possible forms of "virtual training" that have not been examined in this article is the use of online computer games and simulators teaching military skills, or the use of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs).
59. The percentage for the other forums were: Muntadayat al-Nusra al-Jihadiyya: 2.8 percent (www.alnusra.net/vb/), Shabakat Abu al-Bukhary al-Islamiyya: 3.9 percent (www.abualbokhary.info/vb3/),
60. Muntadayat Risalat al-Umma al-Jihadiyya: 3.9 percent (www. al-ommh.net/vb/). AU forums were accessed on 19 Dec 2006.
61. Ulph (see note 33 above).
62. However, it cannot be excluded that such requests may appear in other sub-forums or other types of jihadi web-pages, which were not thoroughly investigated during this study.
63. "I want to go to Jihad against the Zionists and the Crusaders, but how?" [in Arabic], thread posted on al-Firdaws, 18 July 2006, www.alfirdaws.org/vb/.
64. "How to go to Jihad in Iraq" [in Arabic], available, for example, at www.d-sunnah. net/forum/archive/index.php/t-13116.html.
65. Quoted in Jonathan Curiel, "TERROR.COM," San Francisco Chronicle, 10 July 2005.
66. "29-3 Fatah al-Islam Movement/Communique on the Martyrdom of our Brother and Leader (Abu Abd ar-Rahman al-Maqdisi) Khattab Laden" [in Arabic], thread posted on al-Ikhlas, 29 March 2007, www.alekhlaas.net/forum/.
67. See for example, "Message to al-Qabid 'ala al-Jamr" [in Arabic], thread posted on al-Nusra, 20 Oct 2006, www.alnusra.net/vb/.
68. To what degree QAP's "virtual training" project actually led to visible results is another question which has not been addressed in this study, due to its complexity.
69. See for example, Rita Katz and Josh Devon, "The Online Jihadi Threat," Testimony before the Homeland Security Committee, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism, 6 Nov 2007, 3.
70. Petter Nesser, "How Did Europe's Global Jihadis Obtain Training for their Militant Causes?," Terrorism and Political Violence 20, no. 2.