ISIS rival al-Qaeda attempts comeback with audio recording from Hamza bin Laden

ISIS rival al-Qaeda attempts comeback with audio recording from Hamza bin Laden

OSAMA bin Laden may long be dead but there’s a new threat in town — his 28-year-old son who has renewed his call for attacks on the west.
In a chilling audio recording, made two weeks before the Manchester Arena terror attack and being circulated on jihadi websites, the voice urges followers to kill.
According to The Washington Post, the voice is “vintage Osama bin Laden” and belongs to Hamza.
“Prepare diligently to inflict crippling losses on those who have disbelieved,” the voice says.
“Follow in the footsteps of martyrdom-seekers before you.”
The recording first aired on May 13 and calls for attacks on Europe and the US in revenge for the deaths of children in Syria.

According to the Post, the recording also provides “fresh evidence of ominous changes underway within the embattled (al-Qaeda) organisation” and appears to be “signalling the start of a violent new chapter in the group’s history”.
Dr Rodger Shanahan, an expert in the Middle East at the Lowy Institute, told news.com.au al-Qaeda is attempting to raise its profile “perhaps in anticipation of the demise of IS”.
“Hamza is too young to have any religious gravitas but his lineage is his main selling point,” Dr Shanahan said.
“And when the leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been criticized for being too bookish and lacking charisma, this may be an attempt at trying to give the next generation of al-Qaeda some cut through with potential followers.
“He is also adopting a more publicly aggressive posture, which is likely to appeal to those IS supporters whose dreams will have been shattered post collapse of the putative caliphate.”
THE CHOSEN ONE
While he might be the youngest of the 9/11 mastermind’s 23 children, Hamza bin Laden was the one chosen to avenge his father’s death.
And the May 13 recording wouldn’t be the first time Hamza bin Laden has called for attacks against the west. The prominent member of the terror group has appeared in several videos promoting his father’s message.
In a video released by Islamic media organisation As-Sahab last July, the young bin Laden called for new threats against America, promising to get revenge for his father and for the “oppression” of Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

“We Are All Osama,” he said.
“We will continue striking you and targeting you in your country and abroad in response to your oppression of the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and the rest of the Muslim lands that did not survive your oppression.
“If you think that your sinful crime that you committed in Abbottabad has passed without punishment, then you thought wrong.”
Hamza was not at the compound when his father was killed by US Navy SEALs in 2011, and while he was separated from his father he always maintained strong ties.
When he was just 11 years old, he was filmed fighting among the Taliban. Four years later, in 2005, he was filmed during fighting between al-Qaeda and Pakistani security forces in south Waziristan and has appeared in several videos since.
Documents found in Osama bin Laden’s compound when it was raided further revealed that he was training his youngest son to one day take over.
‘DANGEROUS ENEMY’
In an interview with Reuters last year, Bruce Riedel explained the appeal Hamza bin Laden could have for the terror group.
“Hamza provides a new face for al-Qaeda, one that directly connects to the group’s founder,” he said.
“He is an articulate and dangerous enemy.”

According to international policy organisation the Counter Extremism Project, Hamza is believed to operate out of Pakistan.
In 2015, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced Hamza’s official membership in the group and called him the son of the “lion” of jihad.
According to reports, bin Laden moved several key al-Qaeda members and some of his family, including Hamza, to Iran where he was indoctrinated by Taliban operatives.
The US added Hamza bin Laden to its terrorist blacklist on January 5, 2017.
‘ANNIHILATION TACTICS’
Meanwhile, as the al-Qaeda threat grows, US Defense Secretary James Mattis has issued a warning to Islamic State that America is stepping up its fight against jihadists and turning to “annihilation tactics”.
“The bottom line is we are going to move in an accelerated and reinforced manner, throw them on their back foot,” Mattis told CBS Face the Nation.

“We have already shifted from attrition tactics where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria, to annihilation tactics where we surround them.”
He also said the US wanted to stop the jihadist group before the militants had the chance to escape to other countries and carry out terror attacks.
“Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa,” he said.
“We’re not going to allow them to do so. We’re going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate.”

Source: debra.killalea@news.com.au

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