Al Shabaab warn of Mogadishu attacks during Ramadan

• The Prime Minister of Somalia sends his salutations to the people of Somalia and to our brothers and sisters within the Muslim Ummah on the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadhan. H.E Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed fervently hopes this Ramadhan brings happiness, success and peace to the Somali people and the entire Ummah.15
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Despite the government’s assurances, many residents still remain fearful. Photo/AFP.

MOGADISHU, Jun 29 – Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab militants have warned they will step up attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu during the holy month of Ramadan, which started on Sunday.

In an audio message released on the Al Shabaab-controlled station Radio Andalus and also on an Islamist website, the group’s commander in charge of Mogadishu operations, Sheik Ali Mohamed Hussein, said the time had come when violence will be at a peak.

His statement came just a few hours after the Somalia government deployed dozens of heavily armed police on key streets and roads in Mogadishu to counter attacks.

“The attacks will increase and explosions will continue, Mogadishu will remain a frontline and even worse than ever,” said Sheik Ali Mohamed Hussein.

“Everything that is related to devotion to Allah including Jihad must be intensified during the holy month of Ramadan and to ensure this objective, the Mujahedeen fighters will scale up strikes on the enemy,” he added.

The Prime Minister of Somalia sends his salutations to the people of Somalia and to our brothers and sisters within the Muslim Ummah on the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadhan. H.E Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed fervently hopes this Ramadhan brings happiness, success and peace to the Somali people and the entire Ummah. , said his government will do whatever it takes to stop the threats posed by the group during the holy month.

“I want to tell you that we have outlined a plan called ‘break your fast in peace’ to deter violence. We know the violent elements are planning to obstruct people from peacefully practising their worship but we will counter them with force so that people will fulfil their religious obligations in peace,” the pm said.

Dozens of policemen armed with machine guns were seen manoeuvreing in the main streets of Mogadishu searching civilian transport.

Somalia police spokesman Kasim Ahmed Roble said the Lido beach, a public space where Mogadishu residents gather, will be closed during Ramadan.

“We are putting a lot of effort into ensuring security during Ramadan. The reaction unit was created under the government Ramadan security plan and we will continue pursuing the violent elements to stop them from going ahead with their violence as planned,” he said.

“There is no need for gatherings at the Lido … the beach will be closed down for entertainment during Ramadan so that people will not need to come,” he added.

Despite the government’s assurances, many residents still remain fearful.

“The idea of deploying police to conduct search operations is good and helps reduce attacks but I believe that Al Shabaab will still manage to hit key targets during Ramadan. They have vowed and these guys are good at keeping their word,” said one resident from Mogadishu’s Waberi district, Hassan Osman.

Another, Ahmed Yusuf, said: “We are really worried. You cannot be relaxed simply because there is police out there when you know the threat is more sophisticated and real.

“Al Shabaab wants to scale up violence during Ramadan and that is what they do every year. You never know when they will strike and you can be among the casualties.”

H.E Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed welcomes the blessed month of Ramadhan

Bismillah Rahmani Rahim

The Prime Minister of Somalia sends his salutations to the people of Somalia and to our brothers and sisters within the Muslim Ummah on the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadhan. H.E Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed fervently hopes this Ramadhan brings happiness, success and peace to the Somali people and the entire Ummah.

A time for self-reflection and devotion through prayer and fasting, Ramadhan is also an occasion when Muslims around the world reaffirm their commitment to their families and communities. Furthermore, Ramadhan offers Muslims a chance to practice self-cleansing and increase their good deeds. Here in Somalia, we must remain united and build strong bonds during this blessed month and focus on the good we can create. The Prime Minister also extends his best wishes to the SNA and Police Force who have sacrificed their well-being in the face of senseless violence.

Muslims around the globe should hold tight to the rope of Allah, the rope of peace and the rope of mercy. H.E Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed desires that all calamities and misfortunes cease during this blessed month and that it may be continuous. Peace, mercy and justice are necessary in Somalia when people across the globe continue to suffer from senseless conflict and violence. This sacred time reminds us of our universal obligation to pursue peace and to uphold the dignity of the Somali people and mankind.

--END--

Sagal Ahmed 

Press Officer 

Prime Minister’s Media Office 

Mogadishu, Somalia 

Tel: +252 615327526 

Email: sagalahmed22@outlook.com 

Twitter: @SomaliPM

SOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB, IT WILL BE A LONG WAR

Despite military gains against Somalia’s Islamist group Al-Shabaab, the insurgents’ defeat will remain elusive until the Somali government and its international partners address longstanding social – often clan-based – grievances through parallel local and national processes, as the basis for the revival of conventional governmental authority.

To combat the entrenched, highly adaptable extremist group Al-Shabaab, the Somali Federal Government and its allies must better imitate the group’s core political strengths. The focus on military campaigns with little emphasis on encouraging political settlements in liberated areas is handing the initiative back to the insurgents. In its latest briefing, Somalia: Al-Shabaab – It Will Be a Long War, the International Crisis Group looks beyond Al Shabaab’s extremist face and explains why the group remains resilient in south-central Somalia.While Al-Shabaab remains the focus for international actors, it is just one of several obstacles on the road to peace and stability. And unlike many of its rivals in south-central Somalia, the group still offers practical solutions to clan conflicts and minority representation, simple but effective governance and justice structures, and basic social services, including religious instruction in areas with scant primary education.

Al-Shabaab draws strength from an experienced cross-clan leadership that – despite internal tensions – continues to offer a consistent and well-articulated vision, propagated at the ground level through close engagement with Somali society, particularly in rural areas.

Before further military campaigns continue – especially in the large rural areas still controlled by Al-Shabaab – the Somali Federal Government, with its regional and wider international supporters, needs to begin national and local reconciliation efforts in liberated areas, as outlined in its National Stabilisation Strategy. Local consultative bodies should be encouraged to generate political consensus and leadership, in tandem with term-limited care-taker administrations focused on rehabilitation of basic services.

“For all its many mistakes, Al-Shabaab has managed to appear independent of external political time-tables and non-Somali support. Its schooling and training activities as well as its human and media networks in the region have allowed Al-Shabaab to recruit new members, even in the face of greater security presence” says Cedric Barnes, Horn of Africa Project Director. “That’s been key to the group’s continued control of both money and minds in many parts of Somalia”.

“At this stage, another military surge might be counterproductive, especially if foreign troops are leading the way”, says EJ Hogendoorn, Africa Program Deputy Director. “The Somali Federal Government and its allies need to strike at the root of Al-Shabaab’s strength by imitating its grassroots political success and providing for local needs”.By Eurasia Review

President Barack Obama Speech About Ramadan 2014

Ramadaan Kariim"رمضان مبارك Have a Happy Ramadan

The essence of Ramadan is to become humble

alhamdu-lilah the first day of fasting for Ramadan will begin this Sunday

Muslims around the world will begin fasting from SUNDAY JUNE 29, 2014 and for a whole month thereafter, however, for some it will begin only if the moon is sighted.

Since the beginning of Islam, there have been debates as to what constitutes moon sighting. Some interpret that there has to be a minion to declare that they have seen it themselves with their own eyes, where some others do not accept the holiday unless they have seen it themselves. In the United States, there is an organization that monitors moon sighting called the Hilal committee. At one time it was acceptable if the moon was sighted elsewhere, but now, each group has to have their own moon sighting.

Politics runs deeply in our communities, be it a temple, synagogue or a church, and mosques are no different. A few scientifically-inclined-Muslims have adopted NASA's calculation, believed to be precise. However, four different traditions are operative concurrently; i) Strictly Calendar, ii) NASA and iii) Sighting with bare eyes and iv) Sighting by others in the community.

The NASA-oriented and the calendar-group misses out the fun, joy and exhilaration of waiting and watching the needle thin moon on the horizon. The whole family gets out on the roof tops, or higher grounds, some even climb electric poles, and a few will drive out where they can see the sky without obstacles, kids would climb up on parent's shoulders, and a few run from place to place shouting in excitement, did you see? It is like the belief in Santa Claus, angels and other myths; each tradition fulfills one's emotional needs and every one becomes sentimental. After all, if celebration does not have the excitement, it is less of a celebration.

America's spirit of freedom touches every soul, no matter what religion or tradition they follow. American Muslims are no different, they prefer to have a pre-set date to start fasting and the celebration called "Eid" (pronounced as 'Eeed'). The idea is for them to take a day off from work or get an optional day off for their children from the schools. Always, the joy multiplies when the family and friends celebrate it together. They prefer not wait for the moon to show up to the bare eyes.

The conflict is the same every where on the earth. Each group subscribes to one of the four systems mentioned above. America is no different; you will find celebrations on one or three different days in any given city. The Sunnis, being the largest group has the greater division within, while the Shias, Ismailis, WD Mohammad, Bohra and Ahmadiyya follow the pre-determined dates. The consensus may be attributable to having central spiritual leadership in all groups except the Sunni. However like the American public wishes to see Republicans and Democrats drop the party lines and focus on what is good for America, the Muslims also wish they could celebrate the Eid on one single day. It ain't going to happen; it is human to disagree.

It is against the spirit of Ramadan to denigrate, diminish and devalue other practices. The essence of Ramadan is to become humble, simple and free from ill-will, anger, meanness and hate.

Let's fill our hearts with goodwill and honor Ramadan by saying "Eid Mubarak" or Happy Eid to every one who celebrates on a different day in the same town. The essence of Ramadan is joy and let's not prick any one's bubble; God has not signed a pact with any one behind others back, let's rejoice the differences of interpretations. If you want to celebrate every day, go to every celebration.

In the spirit of Ramadan, I pray that Ramadan gets into our hearts and minds and make us embrace all factions of Muslims without undermining their tradition and further pray that we treat every human on the earth with dignity, respect and care.

That is indeed the wisdom expressed in Qur'an, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: "O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of God, is the best in conduct. God Knows and is Aware of everything you do." There is no promise of 72 virgins for martyrs, terrorists or suicide bombers anywhere in the Quran.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Abdirahman Warsame

Executive Director of Terror Free Somalia Foundation

Falls church Virgina USA

B.O BOX 1426 LEESBURG PIKE FALLS CHURCH VA 22041

Al-Shabab gunmen attack hotel in Somalia

At least two African Union soldiers and two al-Shabab fighters killed in the raid, African Union tells terror free somalia.

At least two Djiboutian soldiers and two al-Shabab fighters have been killed in an attack on a hotel used by African Union troops in Somalia, the AU has said. The attack happened at the Amalow hotel in Buulobarde on Thursday. Al-Shabab fighters hurled explosives at the entrance before exchanging fire with Somali and African Union troops at the hotel. Elio Yao, a spokesman for the UN-backed AU mission in Somalia, told the AFP news agency that gunmen failed to enter the compound but had killed two Djiboutians. The two al-Shabab fighters "dressed in military fatigues or uniform" were also killed, Yao said. "There was an exchange of fire at the checkpoint, during that exchange the two Djiboutians were killed... the attackers were not able to enter the compound." Al-Shabab meanwhile said it had killed six AU soldiers. "Our well-armed Mujahideen ... entered Hotel Amalow in Bulobarde again. They are carrying out the operations, shootings," Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab's spokesman for military operation told Reuters news agency. Al-Shabab killed several Djibouti soldiers in an attack at the same hotel in March. The attack involved a 60-year-old Norwegian suicide bomber and at least a dozen heavily armed fighters, al-Shabab said. Troops from several African Union countries are aiding Somali government troops in the conflict with al-Shabab. 210

Al-Shabaab planning more attacks during the holy month of Ramadan..Security officials say

Two Reasons For Liberals to Hate al-Shabaab

Two Reasons For Liberals to Hate al-Shabaab

Bombs Rain on Al Shabaab Bases; 80 Militants Killed

Al Shabaab Bases in Somalia Bombed by Jets, Peacekeepers Say

MOGADISHU - Kenyan fighter jets have attacked two bases belonging to Islamist al Shabaab insurgents in Somalia and killed at least 80 militants, African Union peacekeepers said Monday. The African Union Mission in Somalia, whose soldiers launched a new offensive against al Shabaab this year, did not say when the incidents took place.

Kenya first sent its troops into neighboring Somalia in 2011 after several attacks inside its territory that it blamed on al Shabaab, and later joined the peacekeeping force. The militants have since carried out a string of assaults to punish Kenya for its intervention. Al Shabaab fighters killed at least 67 people in a raid on a Nairobi shopping mall last year. AMISOM said al Shabaab had lost control of more than 10 major towns in the new push by African troops. More than two decades of conflict have left Somalia in ruins, while al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has continued guerrilla-style attacks and suicide bombings...more nbc

Report: 15 Young Somali-Americans Join ISIS in Iraq

Abdirahmaan Muhumed has nine children back in Minneapolis but left them to fight with ISIS in Syria-Iraq.

What a good father.

Over the past few months, as many as 15 young Somali-American men from the Twin Cities have traveled to Syria to join radical groups trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad’s regime, according to the FBI.

Abdirahmaan Muhumed, father of nine, joined the jihad with ISIS this year. Muhumed said in Facebook messages that ISIS is “trying to bring back the khilaafa.”

The New York Post reported:

Radicalized young American Muslims — including as many as 15 Somali-born Minnesotans — have flocked to a jihadist group in recent months, lured by rap videos and hip social-media propaganda.

Security experts are calling it the “Jihad Cool” rebranding of terrorism, and say it’s highly effective in pushing Americans like Abdirahmaan Muhumed, a Twin Cities father of nine, to high-tail it to Syria to help the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“I give up this worldly life for Allah,” Muhumed said of joining the Islamic State in a Facebook message earlier this year. If people call him a terrorist, he’s “happy with it,” he added.

While not fighting, Muhumed has been busy posting images of himself online, showing himself smiling into the camera while holding an AK-47 and throwing the jihadi equivalent of a gang sign — pointing his index finger skyward. Another image appears to show the head of a deceased male.

The trend was first reported by Minnesota Public Radio.

Abdirahmaan Muhumed is one of as many as 15 Minnesota Somali-Americans who left their homes to join ISIS, according to Minnesota Public Radio. (Screengrab from public Facebook page).

Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary fighting for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

ex pm ..Maqaar saar nephew looking for '72 virgins' in iraq.

Farah Mohamed Shirdon, a Calgarian in his early 20s, is fighting overseas with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, CBC News has learned.

Shirdon, who was enrolled in the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology until at least 2012, appears in an ISIS video released two months ago.

Before burning his Canadian passport, Shirdon, in full view of the camera lens, issues a threat to Canada, the U.S. and "all oppressors."

"We are coming and we will destroy you by the will of God," Shirdon says on the video.

He comes from a prominent and well-educated Somali family. His father’s brother, Abdi Farah Shirdon, was a former prime minister of Somalia who has survived numerous attempts on his life by al-Shabab militants fighting for an Islamic state in Somalia under the banner of al-Qaeda.

Shirdon’s mother and sister live in Calgary and are deeply involved in the religious life of their community. CBC News reached out to them repeatedly, but they would only say they are "confused and pained by Farah’s choice," before asking for privacy.

Though it’s unclear how real his threats are, Shirdon is the latest young man from Calgary to be identified by CBC News as a Canadian fighting overseas.

In January, the CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault first reported on the death of Damian Clairmont, a 22-year-old Canadian-born Muslim who left Calgary for Syria in 2012 and was killed by rebel infighting there.

CBC News also reported on Salman Ashrafi, a Calgary man involved in a November 2013 suicide mission in Iraq under the banner of ISIS.

A ‘regular guy’

Both Clairmont and Ashrafi were members of a small group of at least six men who used an apartment building in downtown Calgary as a hub to discuss radical ideas and chart their path to jihad in Syria and Iraq, CBC News has learned, but it’s not clear if Shirdon was a member of their inner circle as well.

Hamza Ayedi, an outreach co-ordinator for Muslim youth in Calgary who knew Shirdon, said he never saw Shirdon in the company Clairmont and Ashrafi, but that all three individually expressed the same sentiments of "not feeling comfortable living in this country" and "wanting to go live in a Muslim country."

Ayedi said the ISIS passport-burning video became popular a few weeks ago when news began circulating in the community that one of their own can be seen participating. 

"I was really shocked because he has evolved big time, I don’t remember him even saying anything like that," said Ayedi, who last saw Shirdon this past September.

“He was just a regular guy.”

130 Canadians have joined terror groups: CSIS

After burning his passport and uttering threats of violence, it is unlikely Shirdon will be allowed back into Canada. But there is a concern now that even more residents of Calgary may follow his lead.

• Recent terrorism-related cases with Canadian connections

No one knows for sure how many men from Calgary, or Canada as a whole, have left to wage jihad in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

Ayedi said that when CSIS visited him a few months ago, they showed him pictures of 10 Muslim men from Calgary and asked him what he knew about them or their whereabouts.  

In February, Canadian Security Intelligence Servicedirector Michel Coulombe testified before the Senate national security and defence committee hearing that an estimated 130 Canadians had gone abroad to join terror groups in Syria, Yemen, Somalia and north Africa.

Coulombe estimated that some 30 alone had left for the Syria-Iraq area.

Coulombe also announced in late March that CSIS was tracking up to 80 Canadians suspected of having participated in terror activities abroad before returning to Canada.

Low profile

Shirdon’s passport-burning video was made to be seen — at one point, he lists the places ISIS wants to attack: "God willing, after Syria, after Iraq, after Jazeera (the Arabian Peninsula), we are going for you Barack Obama" — but he kept a low profile in Calgary.

The source who declined to say if Shirdon belonged to the same group as Ashrafi and Clairmont did say that those two men and at least four others would hold secret meetings to avoid detection.

So far, it’s been enough to keep CSIS and the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team playing catch-up.

Calgary police said they’ve been watching radicalization in the city for eight years, and briefed city politicians on their work after news of Ashrafi’s suicide bombing.

Neither the City of Calgary, local police or the RCMP would speak with CBC News on the extent of the threat to Canada or what is being done to tackle religious extremism at home.

The Islamic Information Society of Calgary issued a news release to CBC saying it’s been warning youth about those who would recruit them for radical causes.

“Our message to the youth has been crystal clear:  if someone is telling you that you will go to Paradise by blowing yourself up in a plane, a train or a public place taking your life and the lives of innocent people, then he is misleading you and committing a crime against the whole society and against the Islamic religion itself,” said Hacene Chebbani, the IISC’s director of religious affairs, in the news release.

The organization also called on all Muslim Canadian organizations to stamp out radical views “within our circles.”..more cbc

Somali-Americans leave homes, friends in Minnesota to fight alongside ISIS jihadis

Abdirahmaan Muhumed is one of as many as 15 Minnesota Somali-Americans who left their homes to join ISIS, according to Minnesota Public Radio. (Screengrab from public Facebook page). 

As many as 15 Somali-American men have left their homes in Minnesota in recent months to travel to the Middle East and join up with ISIS, the jihadist army at war with Syria and Iraq, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

The fighters appear to have made the decision to go fight with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Levant while the terror group was fighting to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, but some may now be in Iraq, where the marauding group is seeking to topple Baghdad.

"A Muslim has to stand up for [what's] right," Abdirahmaan Muhumed told MPR News through a series of Facebook messages dating back to the beginning of the year. "I give up this worldly life for Allah."

ISIS, an Iraq-based, Al Qaeda-linked terror group, poured into Syria as rebels known as the Free Syrian Army fought to overthrow Assad. But ISIS’s ferocious brutality, especially toward Christians, quickly caused a rift with the Syrian rebels. Now, the group appears bent on establishing an Islalamic caliphate, or nation under strict Islamic law, spanning the two nations.

Among Minnesota’s thriving Somali community, Muhumed's transformation from ordinary life in Minneapolis to Middle East jihadist is evidence of a strong recruitment and radicalization effort.

“Most of [those who left] don't have the resources to even buy a ticket to go to Chicago. So that means there is some influential individuals who are taking advantage of our youth," Mohamud Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, told MPR. "So it's up to us to defend ourselves. This is not only a fight for our youth. It is a fight for our future."

It is against the law for Americans to independently travel overseas to fight in civil wars or armed conflicts against foreign governments. FoxNews.com has written about Americans who went to join the war in Syria in the past, including Eric Harroun, a onetime U.S. Army soldier from Arizona.

After FoxNews.com interviewed Harroun from the battlefield, he traveled back to the U.S., where he was arrested in June 2013. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was released, then died of an apparent overdose in April.

FBI officials in Minneapolis told MPR News that as many as 15 Somali-Americans left for Syria in recent months, and that the agency is investigating.

Somali-Americans left Minnesota in previous years to fight in their homeland, but friends and family told MPR they don’t understand why the men would go to a place to which they have no connection.

"It was really hard for me to believe because the guy seemed he was busy with his own life, trying to make it," Abdinasir Mohamed, a friend of Muhumed, told MPR. "And [for] him to leave his family and kids, and just go to the other side of the world, that was really surprising to me. I've not really expected him to do that type of move."

Muhumed said in Facebook messages that ISIS is "trying to bring back the khilaafa," a reference to an Islamic empire. He also said "Allah loves those who fight for his cause."

The report also cites the case of Abdi Mohamud Nur, a 20-year-old Somali man from Minneapolis. Nur's sister, Ifrah, told Voice of America on June 1 that her brother also went to Syria to fight with ISIS.

FBI investigators aim to discover who is recruiting the Minnesota men, said Kyle Loven, an FBI spokesman in Minneapolis.

"It is something that we have seen in this division, and it is something that we are actively working with the Somali community here in Minnesota to try to prevent," Loven said. H/T foxnews

UK, Aussie jihadists call to join ISIS militants in Iraq, Syria

                                                two misguided Somali ISIS fighters in Syria

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is hoping to recruit Muslims from across the globe with the aid of YouTube appeals from English-speaking jihadists. UK, Australian nationals are among the ISIS militants calling to support the insurgency in Iraq.

Titled “There Is No Life Without Jihad,” the new propaganda clipuploaded to YouTube by ISIS’s AlHayat Media Center allegedly shows a line-up of militants who came to Syria and later to Iraq from all over the world.

READ MORE: Things you need to know about ISIS and what is happening in Iraq

“We have brothers from Bangladesh, from Iraq, from Cambodia, Australia and the UK,” says a militant called Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni, who himself comes from Britain, according to a video caption. 

The man attempts to persuade other Muslims to “answer the call of Allah and his messenger when he calls you to what gives you life” and join the jihad – apparently interpreting the term as armed insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state based on Sharia law. 

The militant cites the Prophet Mohammed saying that “the land of Sham [Syria] is the best of lands,” and that, according to him, explains why so many “muhajedeen” are fighting for control of the region. Referring to ISIS, he says: “I don’t know anybody else that has as many muhajedeen as we do.”

Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on ISIS offensive in Iraq

“Look at the soldiers – we understand no borders… We have participated in battles in Sham, and we will go to Iraq in a few days, and we will fight there, Allah permitting, and come back, and we will even go to Jordan and Lebanon with no problems,” the ISIS militant says.

Another English-speaker, identified as Abu Bara’ al-Hindi from Britain, claims that by reading the Koran everyone could understand the nature of jihad just the way he did, calling the insurgency Allah’s“test to see how much you’re willing to sacrifice…the fat job you’ve got, the big car you’ve got and the family you have… for the sake of Allah.” 

He also explains his other motives for joining the ruthless terror group. 

“You know, my brothers living in the West, I know how you feel when I used to live there, in the heart you feel depressed,” the bearded “British national” says, claiming that the “cure for the depression” is militant jihad. He said that back in the UK, he felt like he had “no honor.”

The video also shows a militant called Abu Yahya ash Shami, allegedly from Australia. The caption says that he has already “received shahadah” – that is, was killed – fighting in Al-Khayr.

Another Australian jihadist, Abu Nour al-Iraqi, calls on Americans, Australians and Europeans to join the fighting in Syria and Iraq, saying that the reasons for that are “plenty,” with key one being the creation of a religious state ISIS wants to establish in the region.

ISIS, also known as ISIL, which rose to power in the wake of the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, has become known for fighting alongside the West-backed rebels in Syria and for its gruesome atrocities that even the international terror group Al-Qaeda now holds too radical.

Remember Kids. ISIS are freedom fighters when executing soldiers in Syria and Terrorists when executing in Iraq pic.twitter.com/QovJAY07wu

— Charles Edward Frith (@charlesfrith) June 20, 2014

In its latest major offensive in Iraq, ISIS has captured several large northern and central cities and increased its presence in the Iraqi provinces, closing in on the capital, Baghdad. The seizing of Iraqi territories has taken place extremely rapidly, aided by support from locals who hate the post-invasion government and by the low morale and poor coordination in the US-equipped Iraqi army.

ISIS includes thousands of foreign fighters and has been attracting many jihadist volunteers from Europe and North Africa, Western intelligence agencies reported, according to Reuters. It is also believed to have major foreign sponsors, including some from the Gulf countries and Indonesia, and has even issued a glossy PR report claiming to be showing statistics of various types of attacks for its“stakeholders.”

READ MORE: ISIS, Inc.: Jihadists attract investors, fighters with annual reports & glossy PR