A terrorist's guide to bomb-making and target-choosing
Al-Qaeda releases booklet with detailed guide on how to make pressure cooker bombs 'in the kitchen of your Mom' and recommendations to attack Times Square, Marks & Spencer and tourist resorts popular among US, UK, Israeli tourists.
Terror organization al-Qeada released a booklet for its jihadist operatives detailing how to make homemade bombs and recommending Western targets to attack, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported.
Among the recommended targets are Times Square in New York City, casinos and night clubs in Las Vegas, Western oil tankers, crowded trains and US Air Force bases. In Britain, the guide recommends attacking the Marks & Spencer retail giant - but only on Fridays, when Muslims are praying and therefore not shopping at the store. Other recommended British targets include the Royal Military Academy and the London headquarters of the MI5.
Worldwide, the booklet recommends targeting Israeli, British and American companies, as well as tourist resorts popular among Israelis, Britons and Americans.
The booklet includes a long list of past terror attacks, with praise to the perpetrators. Among others, the list includes the murder of Meir Kahane in 1990, the terror attack on the World Trade Center (9/11) in 2001, the 2002 terror attack in Mombasa, Kenya, the Fort Hood shooting, the Times Square bombing attempt and last year's bombing at the Boston marathon. In a hint for attacks to come, the booklet leaves an empty space in the form of "201?".
The booklet discusses Operation Protective Edge and the plight of the Palestinians at length, noting that "To solve the Palestinian problem, Muslims have tried conferences, seminars, demonstrations, processions, setting up artistical and oratorical festivals and releasing statements of support of Muslims assaulted by the Jews. We have tried all these methods for more than 90 years, but we've never achieved any victory, we've never liberated any land."
Adding that, "There is no way to liberate land and preserve honor, there is no way towards a noble life except by establishing the Ibadah (worship) of Jihad which Allah has commanded."
How to make a bomb
Perhaps the most interesting section in the booklet is a manual on how to make pressure cooker bombs "in the kitchen of your Mom."
That section details the benefits of such an attack: "ingredients are easily available. Buying these ingredients does not raise suspicion. It is easily disposed of if the enemy searches your home. Sniffing dogs are not trained to recognize them as bomb making ingredients. In one or two days the bomb could be ready to kill at least ten people. In a month you may make a bigger and more lethal bomb that could kill tens of people."
The section goes on to instruct how to make such bombs, with color photos detailing each stage.
Steve Stalinsky from MEMRI, an organization that monitors the online and media activity of Jihadi groups, told the Telegraph that "Both AQAP and IS, as well as every other al-Qaeda branch and offshoot, is relying on US social media companies including Twitter and YouTube for their cyber-Jihad efforts. There could be some envy by AQAP that IS is now getting all the headlines."
