Rob Crilly 2:17PM GMT 08 Dec 2013
“To the jihadis in the West”: new issue of Taliban magazine urges recruits to leave behind children to join the jihad, as well as profiling the humble Honda 125 motorbike
The Taliban has issued a fresh appeal to Muslims in the West to launch attacks at home or fight in foreign battlefields, urging recruits to leave behind children or elderly parents.
The message appeared in the fourth edition of Azan, an English-language magazine published by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Written by a man claiming to be a Western-born Jihadi operating in Afghanistan or Pakistan, the call to arms appeared along with an homage to the Honda 125 in its Steeds of War feature, crediting the $700 motorbike with helping defeat “crusader” forces.
The magazine, modelled on the better-known Inspire and published by the Taliban in Khurasan (the Afghanistan and Pakistan region), is designed as a recruitment tool for impressionable young Muslims living in the West.Its cover story, written by Abu Salamah al-Muhajir, offers practical advice for jihadi wannabes, overturning excuses such as wanting to finish college studies or not wanting to leave behind a wife.
“Know that you must eventually separate from your wife; it is as if it has already happened and in Paradise you shall be joined together if Allah Wills,” says the article, which is headlined “To the jihadis in the West”.
“And this is the best place of reunion!”
Magazines like Inspire are credited with radicalising a new generation of home-grown extremists.
More than 300 Britons are fighting with jihadist groups in Syria, according to intelligence sources, raising fresh fears they will return trained in some of the latest terrorist techniques.
The latest issue of Azan says attacks at home are more effective than fighting overseas.
“Every attack that is carried out is remembered year after year with ceremonies and minutes of silence. Imagine if every crusader nation had to remember a past attack every month; it would surely get their citizens to pressurise their governments into changing their foreign policies vis-à-vis their aggressions against the Muslims,” it says.
The article also claims that good Muslims need not worry about their ailing parents or young children if they leave for jihad.
"Indeed, if you fulfil the commands that Allah has obligated upon you, He will look after your children,” it says.
Along with the usual carefully selected quotations from the Prophet Mohammed and Osama bin Laden, the magazine also includes a tribute to the Honda 125 motorbike.
Models — armed with an AK-47 and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher – demonstrate how it is deployed in combat, complete with MP3 player to allow attackers to listen to the Koran on long journeys.
the mods
