In one, he recalls “glorious battles that took place in the early days of Islam between truth and falsehood.” Yet Islam is the one element of the jihadis’ motives and goals that our government and law enforcement officials have determined to ignore. “Briton stars in Somali terror videos,” by Duncan Gardham in the Telegraph, November 20 (thanks to David):
Terrorists in Somalia have produced a series of full-length documentaries featuring a masked narrator with a British accent as part of a publicity drive designed to attract Western recruits.
The videos feature suicide bombers, the corpses of African peace keepers and describe military operations by the militant group al-Shabaab, which is closely linked to al-Qaeda.
The footage is the latest addition to a well-oiled media machine which has attracted nearly 16,000 followers to its English-language Twitter account since it was set up last December.
It is unclear whether the reporter is the same man behind the Twitter account and a press office that has churned out online press releases giving updates on battles and “martyred” fighters in recent months.
MI5 is concerned that the conflict has drawn in dozens of young Britons and last September Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, warned that it was “only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside al-Shabaab.”
Earlier this year three men from East London were jailed for channeling thousands of pounds to three associates who are still with militants in the East African conflict zone.
Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, is also thought to be with al-Shabaab in Somalia.
In the first 32-minute video released by al-Shabaab’s media arm, al-Kataib, last November, called “The Burundian Bloodbath” the reporter, dressed in army fatigues, visits the scene of a battle in which he claims 101 soldiers died.
Carrying a microphone, he compares the battle at Dayniile with the “glorious battles that took place in the early days of Islam between truth and falsehood” and interviews al-Shabaab fighters who took part….