IntelCenter
Graduates of an Al Qaeda group in Somalia January. The terrorist group boasted about how cheap the foiled plan to bomb cargo plans in October was and said more smaller-scale attacks would be coming.
Al-Malahem Media
An image from the latest issue of "Inspire," a magazine published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.In a new issue of a magazine released Saturday by a branch of Al Qaeda in Yemen, the terror group provided a detailed breakdown of its attempt to blow up cargo planes last month, bragged about the plot's simple execution and said the plan signaled a new focus toward smaller, inexpensive attacks.
The group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, boasted in the English-language online magazine "Inspire" that the plan to blow two United States-bound cargo planes out of the sky last month using computer printer cartridges stuffed with explosives – known as "Operation Hemorrhage" -- cost only $4,200 and was organized by "less than six brothers."
The attack was foiled on October 29 when two mail bombs were pulled off cargo planes in Britain and Dubai after a Saudi tipster alerted the U.S. about the plot.
The bombs had been constructed using printer toner cartridges packed with the industrial explosive PETN, a tough to detect substance that has become a weapon of choice for terrorists recently, and cell phones.
Al Qaeda, though, scoffed at the idea that the plan was anything but a success.
"This supposedly 'foiled plot,'" the group wrote, "will without a doubt cost America and other Western countries billions of dollars in new security measures. That is what we call leverage."
The group said that the plot to attack cargo planes signals a shift in strategy away from massive, 9/11-style terror events in favor of smaller-scale attacks to cripple the U.S. shipping industry and weaken the economy.
The group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, boasted in the English-language online magazine "Inspire" that the plan to blow two United States-bound cargo planes out of the sky last month using computer printer cartridges stuffed with explosives – known as "Operation Hemorrhage" -- cost only $4,200 and was organized by "less than six brothers."
The attack was foiled on October 29 when two mail bombs were pulled off cargo planes in Britain and Dubai after a Saudi tipster alerted the U.S. about the plot.
The bombs had been constructed using printer toner cartridges packed with the industrial explosive PETN, a tough to detect substance that has become a weapon of choice for terrorists recently, and cell phones.
Al Qaeda, though, scoffed at the idea that the plan was anything but a success.
"This supposedly 'foiled plot,'" the group wrote, "will without a doubt cost America and other Western countries billions of dollars in new security measures. That is what we call leverage."
The group said that the plot to attack cargo planes signals a shift in strategy away from massive, 9/11-style terror events in favor of smaller-scale attacks to cripple the U.S. shipping industry and weaken the economy.
"To bring down America we do not need to strike big," the group wrote. There is a "security phobia that is sweeping America," the group wrote, and therefore it makes more sense to stage less complex attacks.
In a move that shocked security officials and people who monitor radical websites, the thug writers provided a terrorist's grocery list of the materials used in the failed plot.
"Two Nokia mobiles, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200," the magazine said. "That is all what Operation Hemorrhage cost us."
Terrorism analysts said Al Qaeda was being unusually frank about both the details surrounding Operation Hemorrhage and the group's plan for the future.
"We have never seen a jihadist group in the Al Qaeda orbit ever release, let alone only a few weeks after, such a detailed accounting of the philosophy, operational details, intent and next steps following a major attack," Ben Venzke, the head of intelligence agency IntelCenter, told The Associated Press.
Inspire is the first English language magazine published Al Qaeda. Its first issue was released and published on radical web sites in July. Past editions have included instructions about bomb making and messages from Osama bin Laden.
Intelligence officials believe the magazine is the work of Samir Khan, a former Queens resident who now lives in Yemen, according to reports.
NYDailyNews
In a move that shocked security officials and people who monitor radical websites, the thug writers provided a terrorist's grocery list of the materials used in the failed plot.
"Two Nokia mobiles, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200," the magazine said. "That is all what Operation Hemorrhage cost us."
Terrorism analysts said Al Qaeda was being unusually frank about both the details surrounding Operation Hemorrhage and the group's plan for the future.
"We have never seen a jihadist group in the Al Qaeda orbit ever release, let alone only a few weeks after, such a detailed accounting of the philosophy, operational details, intent and next steps following a major attack," Ben Venzke, the head of intelligence agency IntelCenter, told The Associated Press.
Inspire is the first English language magazine published Al Qaeda. Its first issue was released and published on radical web sites in July. Past editions have included instructions about bomb making and messages from Osama bin Laden.
Intelligence officials believe the magazine is the work of Samir Khan, a former Queens resident who now lives in Yemen, according to reports.
NYDailyNews
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