New Taliban Magazine Says: '[Obama] Wanted Dead Only' - Appeals For Help To Defeat Drone Technology

New Taliban Magazine Says: '[Obama] Wanted Dead Only' - Appeals For Help To Defeat Drone Technology.HT: Memri. By Tufail Ahmad.

New Taliban Magazine Appeals For Help To Defeat Drone Technology, Says: '[Obama] Wanted Dead Only'; 'We Are Fighting In Khurasan But Our Eyes Are On Palestine'; Secret Jihadi Group In Pakistan Air Force Identified; Encrypted Contact For Self-Radicalizing Muslim Youth Worldwide Included

A new jihadi magazine, launched by the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and comparable to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine, earnestly appeals for help to defeat U.S. drone technology, announces the formation of a death squad to kill former Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, seeks to recruit self-radicalizing jihadi youth, produces a full-page image of U.S. President Barack Obama under the words "Wanted Dead Only," and declares that the jihadi forces' ultimate aim is to liberate Palestine from Israel.

Produced in English-language for jihadi youth worldwide, the magazine is called "Azan" – or call to prayer – and has been released by the "Taliban in Khurasan," a geographical region encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan. The first issue is dated March 2013. The names of editors and publisher are not given, but the expression "Taliban in Khurasan" seeks to remove any distinction between the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. Contrary to the belief of many Western analysts, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which represents Pakistani jihadis, has always identified itself as part of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the lead body for Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Muhammad Omar, who is described by Azan as "commander of [all] the believers."

A PDF copy of Azan was released on the Jamia Hafsa Urdu Forum, a jihadi internet forum set up after the 2007 Pakistani army operation in Islamabad's Red Mosque and its adjoining Jamia Hafsa madrassa for women,[1] which was ordered by Pervez Musharraf. It produces an image of militant commander Adnan Rasheed surrounded by masked members of a death squad formed to kill Musharraf, who recently returned to Pakistan to contest elections but is under judicial custody pertaining to court cases against him, including one charging him with treason. Adnan Rasheed, a former Pakistan Air Force commando, is a militant commander who was freed from Pakistani jail by the Taliban.

An unsigned editorial, while stressing the magazine's jihadi mission, notes that it is also aimed at self-radicalizing Muslim youth, stating: "Azan is also a platform for the Muslim men and women abroad who seek to humiliate the tyrants in their own lands. We ask all Muslims holding such noble aspirations of discharging their sacred duty of jihad to contact us…." The editorial outlines a media war, stating: "It is also imperative that the ideological battle that the Crusader-Zionist enemy is waging be fully laid out in front of the Muslim masses and a proper reaction to this onslaught be formalized…."

Perhaps in a reference to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014, the editorial observes: "The world today stands at the eve of the return to Khilafah as was destined to happen according to the Ahadith [sayings and deeds] of the Messenger of Allah [Prophet Muhammad]."
In this context, the description of Mullah Omar as "commander of [all] the believers" is relevant because contrary to depictions of Mullah Omar in the Western media as leader of the Afghan Taliban, he is indeed deemed by jihadis worldwide as Emir-ul-Momineen, leader of the faithful. Read the full story here.